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STORIES FOR CHILDREN, 



SELECTED FROM THE 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 



Mi 




CLARENCE DROWNED IN THE BUTT OF MALMSEY. 



>6 — * 

STORIES 



SELECTED FROM THE 



History of England, 

FROM THE CONQUEST TO THE REVOLUTION. 

FOR CHILDREN. 



FOURTEENTH EDITION. 

ILLUSTRATED WITH TWENTY-FOUR WOODCUTS. 



LONDON; 
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 

1847. ; ;'■ 






LONDON : 

TIZETELLT BROTHERS AND CO., PRINTERS AND ENGRAVERS, 

135 FLEET STREET. 



<S.&y?$ 



&x 



PKEFACE. 



Every parent has, I suppose, felt the difficulty of 
paying the contribution of stories which children 
are so anxious to levy. I happen to have one 
little girl whose curiosity and shrewdness have 
frequently embarrassed me. I have found that 
fictions lead to inquiries which it is not easy to 
satisfy ; supernatural fictions (such as fairy tales) 
vitiate the young taste, and disgust it from its 
more substantial nourishment ; while the fictions 
of common life (such as histories of Jenny and 
Tommy — of dolls and tops), though very useful as 



X PREFACE. 

lessons, have not enough of the marvellous to 
arrest the attention to the degree necessary for 
amusement. These considerations led me to tell 
my little girl the following stories, which I have 
found to amuse her in a very high degree, with- 
out having any of the disadvantages which result 
from relations merely fictitious. 

My principal object was not to instruct but 
to amuse, and I therefore did not attempt any 
thing like a course of history ; but as I have, in 
general, adhered to historical fact, and departed 
from it only (when history was doubtful or silent) 
in favour of some popular prejudices,* whatever 
lasting impression may be made on the young 
mind will be, on the whole, consistent with truth, 
and conducive to its further and more substantial 
improvement. 

* As in the story of Fair Rosamond, Richard, &c. 



PREFACE. XI 

Though I have not followed an historical 
course, yet I have thought it might be useful to 
arrange my stories in chronological order, and to 
select one, and one only, from each reign ; and I 
have prefixed to each the king's name in whose 
reign the facts of the story happened — thus the 
child may be made acquainted with the names 
and succession of the Kings of England. The 
dates which I have prefixed are rather for the 
use of the parents than of the children. 

I have not come down later than the Revolu- 
tion, because from that period history becomes 
too distinct and important to be trifled with. 

As these stories have appeared to answer my 
purpose in the individual case, I think it right to 
offer them to the public, and shall be glad to 
hear that they are as successful in other families 
as they have been in my own. 



Xll PREFACE. 

As a literary work this trifle can have no 
merit ; my sole object has been to keep my style 
as simple, I may say, as humble, as possible, and 
to preserve, as nearly as I could, the very words 
in which I had been in the habit of repeating 
the story. Whenever I may accidentally have 
deviated from the mere nursery style, I am sure 
that I have gone astray. 



J. W. C. 



CONTENTS. 



PA.GE 

I. Robert of Normandy 1 

II. Red William 10 

III. The Shipwreck 15 

IV. Stephen 20 

V. Fair Rosamond 25 

VI. Co:ur de Lion 32 

VII. Arthur 41 

VIII. Edward's Escape 51 

IX. The Conquest of Wales 60 

X. Edward of Carnarvon 69 

XI. The Siege of Calais 74 

XII. Wat Tyler 83 

XIII. Madcap Harry 89 

XIV. The Crown . . . . , . . .97 
[XV. The Generous Robber 105 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

nun 

XVI. The Death of Clarence . , . . .113 

XVII. Jane Shore 119 

XVIII. The Murder in the Tower ..... 128 

XIX. Perkin Warbeck 137 

XX. King Henry and his Six Wives .... 145 

XXI. Jane Grey 153 

XXII. Bloody Mary 160 

XXIII. The Ring 166 

XXIV. The Gunpowder Plot ...... 173 

XXV. King Charles's Martyrdom 182 

XXVI. The Royal Oak 191 

XXVII. The Escape 197 



LIST OF PLATES. 



PAGE 

Robert Overthrows and Recognises his Father, William the Con- 
queror i 6 

King William II. Shot in the New Forest by Tyrrel . . .13 

Shipwreck of the Children of Henry 1 17 

Homage to Queen Matilda 21 

Fair Rosamond compelled to drink Poison by Queen Eleanor . SO 

Blondel before the Prison of Richard Cceur de Lion ... 37 

/ 

Hubert and Prince Arthur 44 

Escape of Prince Edward 55 

The Bard 62 

Murder of Edward II. in Berkeley Castle 72 

Queen Philippa Intercedes for the Citizens of Calais ... 81 

Wat Tyler Slain by Sir William Walworth ...... 86 

Prince Henry Strikes the Chief Justice 94 

Prince Henry brings back the Chown ....... 97 

Queen Margaret and the Robber 110 



LIST OF PLATES. 

PA.GB 

Clarence Drowned in the Butt of Malmsey . . 113 

Jane Shore doing Penance 125 

Murder of the Princes in the Tower 134 

Perkin Warbeck entering London 142 

Lady Jane Grey and her Executioner 159 

Burning of Ridley and Latimer , . 162 

Guy Fawkes in the Cellar 178 

Cromwell turning out the House of Commons 189 

Charles II. in the Oak ... ... ... 193 




I. 

EGBERT OF NORMANDY. 

William I. 1024.— Died 1087.— Reigned 20 years. 




HERE was a king who lived a 
great while ago, — many hundred 
years, — whose name was William. 
He is sometimes called William the 
First, because no king had been called 
William before him; and sometimes he 
is called William the Conqueror, be- 
cause he came to England with a great 



Z ROBERT OF NORMANDY. 

army, and won a great battle over another 
king, whose name was Harold, and who 
being killed in the battle, William the 
Conqueror became king in his stead. 
Now this King William had three sons, 
called Robert, William, and Henry. 
Robert was a brave and generous boy, 
but he was bold, passionate, and unruly. 

William had few of Robert's good 
qualities, and most of the bad ; but he was 
very cunning, and therefore did not dare 
to offend his father, as Robert used often 
to do. 

But Henry was a good boy, very 
obedient to his father, obliging to all his 
friends, and so very attentive to his learn- 
ing, that he was called, by all who knew 



ROBERT OF NORMANDY. 3 

him, Beau Clerc — which is French for 
Good Scholar. 

Now I shall tell you how Robert's 
bad temper got him into a great scrape, 
and was very near making him commit a 
dreadful crime. 

It happened that the three young 
princes, Robert, William, and Henry, 
were one day amusing themselves in the 
court-yard of the castle which belonged to 
their father, and amongst other foolish 
romping plays, (which are always bad, be- 
cause they make boys angry with one 
another,) William and Henry threw a 
great can of water over Robert's head, 
which quite drenched him, and spoiled all 
his fine clothes ; upon which this passionate 

A 2 



ROBERT OF NORMANDY. 



Robert, who ought to have been wiser, 
because he was by this time grown to be 
quite a man, and was the eldest of all, 
snatched up a sword, and was going to 
strike his brothers in his fury. 

But their father, hearing the noise, 
came to put an end to the quarrel ; and 
seeing that Robert was so much in fault, 
he scolded him very severely. 

But Robert, instead of asking pardon, 
and being sorry for his offence, only grew 
more angry; and pretending that his father 
had been partial to his two younger bro- 
thers, he ran away in the night in a fit of 
passion^ and, young as he was, had the 
wickedness to endeavour to make his 
father's subjects rebel against him ; and he 



ROBERT OF NORMANDY. 5 

wandered about the country with some 
other wild young men like himself, trying 
to make riots and confusion. 

And it was while he was playing these 
wicked pranks that he had like to have 
committed the most dreadful crime that 
anybody can ever be guilty of, which is, 
killing his own father. This is so horrible 
a crime, that Robert, violent as he was, 
could never have thought of doing it on 
purpose; but his conduct was so foolish, 
that he was near doing it by mistake. 

In those days all princes and gentlemen 
wore armour; that is, plates of brass or 
iron over their clothes, and iron or brass 
caps or helmets over their heads and faces ; 
and these things they wore to guard them- 



6 ROBERT OF NORMANDY. 

selves from being wounded by arrows 
which their enemies might shoot at 
them. 

When men were covered up in this 
armour, and their faces hidden by their 
helmets, you could not know one man 
from another; and it happened that, as 
the King was riding in armour through the 
part of the country where Robert was, 
Robert came and attacked him. 

He did not know it was the King, be- 
cause of his armour; and as Robert was 
in armour also, the King did not know him; 
and so they fought for a great while, till at 
last Robert, who was young and strong, 
knocked down his poor old father; and 
then, just as he was going to stab him with 




ROBERT OVERTHROWS AND RECOGNISES HIS FATHER, 
WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 



ROBERT OF NORMANDY. 7 

his sword, the old King's helmet fell off, 
and Robert saw his father s face. 

You may judge how shocked and sur- 
prised he was ; for bad as his conduct had 
been, there never could be a son so wicked 
as to wish to kill his father: so Robert 
fell on his knees, and thanked God that he 
had been saved from this crime ; and he 
begged his father's pardon, and mounted 
him upon his own horse, for the King's had 
been killed in the fight. 

This shows how dangerous it is to give 
way to bad temper ; for Robert, by doing 
so, was very near being led into a horrible, 
horrible crime, of which he had no inten- 
tion : if he had killed his father, neither 
God nor man would ever have forgiven 



8 ROBERT OF NORMANDY. 

him, and he would been miserable for ever 
and ever. 

As it was, he suffered very severely for 
his faults ; for though he was the eldest 
son, King William at his death left his 
kingdom to his younger sons, who were 
both kings of England in their turn; and 
Robert, though he tried every means to 
become king, never could succeed : so he re- 
mained only Duke of Normandy, whence 
he is called Robert of Normandy. 

At last this poor Robert, who, but for 
his violent temper, would have been a good 
prince, and much beloved, was confined in 
prison for the last twenty-eight years of his 
life, because, if he had been let loose, he 
would have quarrelled with his brothers, 



ROBERT OF NORMANDY. 



9 



and done all kinds of violence and mis- 
chief. 

So you see how wicked and how foolish 
it is to be cross, and passionate, and ill- 
tempered. 




II. 

RED WILLIAM. 

William II. born 1057.— Died 1100.— Reigned 12 years. 




OW I'll tell you a story about 

another King William. 

He also had two names : he was 

jj called William the Second, because 

ffr; he was the second king of that name ; 

& and he was also called William 

Rufus, or Red William, because his hair 

was red — Rufus being a Latin word for 

Red. 

This Red William is the same whom 
I mentioned to you before ; he was the 



RED WILLIAM. 11 

second son of King William the Con- 
queror, and brother of Robert and 
Henry. 

I told you that he was as violent as 
Robert, but he was cunning and sly ; so 
that people did not find out his temper as 
easily as they did Robert's. 

I cannot tell you all his history, that 
would be too long, and you will read it 
by-and-by yourself, when you have learned 
to read books of history ; I shall only tell 
you of his death, which happened in a 
strange manner. 

King William the Conqueror was 
very fond of hunting ; so very fond, that he 
never cared what harm he did to other 
people in riding over their lands, or even 



12 RED WILLIAM. 

in taking their lands away from them alto- 
gether, in order to make forests, or places 
where wild beasts are kept for the purpose 
of being hunted ; and Red William was, 
in this respect, exactly like his father. 

This was very unjust and cruel of both 
of them, and Red William suffered dearly 
for it, as you shall hear. 

For one day, as he was hunting in the 
New Forest, which had been made by 
turning many poor people out of their 
houses, a gentleman called Walter Tyr- 
rell, who was hunting with him, shot an 
arrow at a deer that was running by. 

The arrow flew with great violence; but 
before it could reach the deer, it happened 
to strike against the bough of a tree, so it 



<aTW 




KIM. WILLIAM II. SHOT IN THE NEW FOREST BY TYRREL. 



RED WILLIAM. 13 

slanted off another way, and pierced the 
heart of Red William, who happened un- 
luckily to be at that moment passing under 
the tree, and who immediately fell dead on 
the spot. 

The moment Walter Tyrrell saw 
what he had done, he was, as you may 
think, horribly frightened, and without 
saying one word of what had happened, he 
hastened to make his escape out of the 
forest. He crossed the river Avon, near 
the town of Ringwood, at a spot which the 
country people still call Tyrrell's Ford, 
and he rode to the sea-side, where he got 
into a boat, and sailed away for France. 

But Red William was so hated on 
account of his injustice and cruelty, that 



14 RED WILLIAM. 

no one was sorry for the accident, and the 
dead body lay for some time unnoticed in 
the forest; and it was afterwards found, and 
brought to a church to be buried, by some 
of the poor country people whom he had 
treated so badly while he was alive. 

A stone has been put up in the New 
Forest, on the spot where the tree grew 
under which the King was killed. If ever 
we go into Hampshire, I shall take you to 
see this stone ; for it is a great pleasure to 
visit the very spot where any remarkable 
event has happened. 



III. 

THE SHIPWRECK, 

Henry I. born 1068. — Died 1135. — Reigned 35 years, 



* ^HERE have been no less than 
|PvJ|| ^^ eight Kings of England of the 

name of Henry. 

I shall tell you stories about 
each of them in his turn ; but now I shall 
tell you that the first king of this name had 
a son called William : who was, as you 
may suppose, a great favourite with his 
father, for he had no other son. So it was 
expected that Prince William would be 
king when his father should die; but he 



16 THE SHIPWRECK. 

died before his father, when he was only 
eighteen years old, in a very dismal manner. 

He was coming with the King, his father, 
from France to England, and if he had 
sailed in the same ship with the King, he 
would have arrived safe, as the King did ; 
but the Prince delayed, and was not ready 
to go with his father, as he ought to have 
been, and so he sailed in another ship a 
little after the King. 

Now the captain and sailors of this ship 
were all drunken and riotous, and took so 
little care about steering the ship, that she 
drove against a rock that stood out in the 
sea, and was immediately broken almost in 
pieces, and quite filled with water. 

Then all the poor souls that were on 




8HIPWKKCK mK THE CHILDREN <>!' HENRY I. 



THE SHIPWRECK. 17 

board began to try to save themselves ; and 
the Prince and some others got into a little 
boat that belonged to the ship, and were 
escaping to the land, when William heard 
the voice of his sister who was left behind 
in the wreck, crying and lamenting at the 
prospect of being drowned. 

As William was very good-natured and 
generous, and loved his sister, he would 
not think of saving himself while she was 
drowning : and so he desired the men to 
row the boat back again to the ship, to try 
to save his sister ; but when he approached 
the ship, instead of being able to save her, 
he and all the rest were lost. 

For when the little boat came near 
enough, all the poor miserable creatures 



18 THE SHIPWRECK. 

who were clinging to the ship, in hopes to 
save each his own life, jumped altogether 
into the boat, which immediately sunk 
under so great a weight, and the poor 
young Prince and his sister, and every soul, 
perished ; except only one man. This man 
was a butcher, who did not jump into the 
boat, but clung to the mast of the ship ; 
and was saved by some fishermen next 
morning, who, as they went out to fish, saw 
the butcher on the wreck of the ship, and 
went to save him. 

Though the captain of this ship was the 
person who was most in fault for this sad 
accident, I must tell you something that 
will make you sorry for him. 

He, like the butcher, had saved himself 



THE SHIPWRECK. 19 

by clinging to the mast of the ship ; but 
when the butcher told him that Prince 
William was drowned, the poor captain 
was so shocked, that he said he would not 
live after having caused the Prince's death, 
and so he let go his hold of the mast, and 
sank to the bottom of the sea, and was 
drowned with his young master. 

The poor old King, who was very fond 
of his son, when he heard of his death, was 
so sorry, — so sorry that he fainted away, 
and never was seen to smile again during 
the rest of his life, though he lived as long 
as fifteen years. 




b2 



IV. 



STEPHEN. 



Stephen, born 1105. — Died 1154. — Reigned 18 years. 







TOLD you how poor Prince 
William, King Hjenry's son, 
was drowned, with his sister and 
a great many other people, and 
how very sorry the poor old King 
was ; and well he might, for be- 
sides that William was a very 

fine youth, the King had, as I told you, no 

other son. 

But he had one other daughter, and 

having lost his other children in so lament- 




UOMAGli TO QUBEN MATH. HA. 



STEPHEN, 21 

able a way, he grew doubly fond of her ; 
and when he was dying he ordered that 
Matjlda, for that was his daughter's name, 
should be Queen of England ; and the 
lords and bishops and all the people ac- 
cepted Matilda for their Queen, and took 
an oath to be faithful and obedient to her. 

But there was a cousin of Matilda's 
whose name was Stephen, who was a great 
soldier, very brave, and very wicked ; and 
although he had sworn like all the rest to 
have Matilda for Queen, no sooner was 
the old King dead, than Stephen, wick- 
edly breaking his oath, collected an army, 
and proclaimed himself King. 

Then there began long and bloody wars ; 
for most of the lords, bishops, and people, 



22 STEPHEN. 

remembered the oath they had taken, and 
were true to Matilda; and so an army was 
raised for her which fought with the army 
of Stephen; and sometimes Matilda's 
army won the battle, and sometimes Ste- 
phen's. 

But at last Stephen succeeded in driv- 
ing Matilda out of England, and in get- 
ting possession of the kingdom ; but this did 
not last long, for Stephen was a very un- 
just king, and oppressed the people, and 
they all rose against him, and invited Ma- 
tilda to come back to England, and to 
bring her little son, who was called Henry, 
after the old King his grandfather. 

So she and little Henry came to Eng- 
land, and a great army was raised for 



STEPHEN. 23 

them, and it fought Stephen's army 
several times, and at last took Stephen 
himself prisoner ; and he was then thrown 
into a prison, where he was kept a whole 
year, and during that time Matilda was 
Queen of England. 

But Stephen getting out of prison, the 
wars began again; and there were a dread- 
ful number of people killed, and many a 
poor father and mother lost their children 
in the bloody battles on both sides. 

So you see what sad misfortunes were 
occasioned by Stephen's wickedness in 
breaking his promise ; but you shall hear 
how Stephen himself, by the justice of 
Heaven, suffered the same misfortunes 
that he caused to others. 



24 STEPHEN, 

For his chief object was that his own 
son, who was called Eustace, should be 
King of England after him, and this was 
the chief reason of his wicked conduct; 
but, as if to punish him for his crime, just 
as he had again got quiet possession of the 
kingdom, this very son Eustace died. 

And Stephen himself died soon after ; 
and then young Henry became King, to 
the great joy of every body; and he was 
one of the bravest, the wisest, and the 
best kings that ever reigned in England. 




V. 



FAIR ROSAMOND. 



Henry II. born 1133. — Died 1189. — Reigned 34 years. 




N C E on a time there was a beau- 
tiful young lady of the name 
of Rosamond Clifford, so ex- 
tremely beautiful, that she was 
commonly called Fair Rosamond- 
It happened that one day King 
j^ Henry — the son of Matilda, 
and second king of England of that name 
— saw this young lady, and fell in love with 
her ; and she, as the King was young and 
handsome, fell also in love with him. 



26 FAIR ROSAMOND. 

So the King ordered a beautiful bower 
to be made near a town called Woodstock, 
in which Fair Rosamond was to live. 

This bower was one of the most de- 
lightful places that ever was heard of: it 
was a nice little cottage, in a delicious gar- 
den, quite overgrown with sweetbriars and 
honeysuckles; and the groves and garden 
were full of singing birds, and the air was 
quite sweet with the smell of flowers. 

But the chief wonder of the bower was, 
that, from without, no one could see it, 
it was so completely buried in the woods. 
The trees grew so thick about it, that 
they formed a kind of labyrinth or maze, 
through which no one could find the way, 
unless by following a clue or thread ; which 



FAIR ROSAMOND. 27 

winded along through a great, great many 
passages, from the outward entrance into 
the centre of the bower ; and this clue was 
very fine silk thread, so fine, that unless 
persons were told of it they would never 
be able to see it. 

So whenever the King could get away 
from court, he used to go alone to the 
bower to visit Fair Rosamond, and by 
the clue he used to find his way in; but 
nobody else except himself ever passed in 
or out; except one servant, who used to 
go out at night to fetch bread, and wine, 
and meat, for the use of Fair Rosamond. 

Now I will tell you why this curious 
bower and labyrinth were made. 

There was a Queen at that time in 



28 FAIR ROSAMOND, 

England, called Ellinor, who was jealous 
and cruel ; and the king was afraid that if 
she knew about Fair Rosamond she would 
put her to death, and therefore he took 
all this care to hide her in Woodstock 
Bower. 

It was very wrong of the King to at- 
tempt to deceive the Queen in this manner, 
and it was very wicked in Rosamond to 
join him in doing so; and accordingly a 
great misfortune was the consequence of 
this great fault. 

Queen Ellinor could not but observe 
that the King often went away from court, 
and nobody knew whither he was gone, and 
every one wondered where he could be. 

So the Queen watched him very closely, 



FAIR ROSAMOND. 29 

and, after long watching, she found that he 
always went towards Woodstock, but what 
became of him after he got to Woodstock 
she could never discover; for no one could 
either see the bower, or find his way 
through the labyrinth. 

And so perhaps it never would have 
been discovered, but that Queen Ellinor 
happened to meet the servant who used to 
buy meat, and bread, and wine, for the use 
of Fair Rosamond; and from him she 
found out the secret of the labyrinth, and 
learned to make her way with the assistance 
of the clue. 

Having thus found the secret, Queen 
Ellinor watched her opportunity; and 
when she knew that the King was at the 



30 FAIR ROSAMOND. 

court, and that Fair Rosamond must be 
alone in the bower, she went to the laby- 
rinth, with a dagger and a cup of poison, 
and laying hold of the clue, she found her 
way to the very centre of the bower where 
Fair Rosamond was sitting. 

You may judge of the surprise of poor 
Rosamond, when she saw the Queen come 
in with a furious look, with a dagger in one 
hand, and the cup of poison in the other ; 
but I cannot explain to you her horror 
when the cruel Queen told her that she 
was come to kill her, and that all the 
indulgence she could have was a choice, 
whether to die by being stabbed by the 
dagger, or by drinking the cup of poison. 

The poor, poor creature went upon 




FAIR ROSAMOND COMPELLED TO DRINK POISON BY QUEEN ELEANOR. 



FAIR ROSAMOND. 31 

her knees to the Queen, and wept and 
prayed for mercy; but the Queen continued 
cruel and hard-hearted : and at last the 
miserable Rosamond was forced to drink 
off the poison, and soon after died in great 
agony. 

But in the meanwhile the Queen got 
away out of the labyrinth, and nobody 
knew that she had been there: but when 
the King next came to visit the bower, he 
was surprised and shocked to find his dear 
Rosamond dead; and though he did not 
know how her death was caused, he could 
not but feel that his own folly and wicked- 
ness, in keeping her hid in this bower, was 
the cause of her death, and he was, ever 
after, very much grieved for her loss. 



VI. 
CCEUR DE LION. 

Richard L born 1157. — Died 1199. — Reigned 9 years. 



<o^4<^^^f^^ 




|HERE was once a king of 
England, who was one of the 
*b bravest men in the world, and 
was called, from his great generosity and 
courage, Cceur de Lion, which means 
Heart of Lion ; for the Lion is supposed 
to be the most courageous and generous 
of all animals. 

It happened that in King Richard's 
time, a people who were called Infidels 
(or Unbelievers, because they did not be- 



CCEUR DE LION, 33 

lieve in our Saviour,) obtained possession 
of a Holy City called Jerusalem, about 
which you will read in the Bible, when you 
are old enough to read the Bible ; and all 
the Christians in England, France, and 
Germany resolved to join together, and 
form a great army to attack these Infidels, 
and drive them out of the Holy City of 
Jerusalem, which was the chief city of 
the Holy Land. 

Of all the kings who went to the Cru- 
sade — so this war was called — none was 
more powerful, brave, or magnificent, than 
Cceur de Lion; and his army was one of 
the finest that ever was seen; and when 
he arrived at the Holy Land, where the 
Holy City was, he attacked the Infidels, 



34 CGEUR DE LION. 

and conquered them in a great many 
glorious battles, and the fame of Cceur de 
Lion spread far and wide throughout all 
Europe. 

But it happened before this war was 
quite ended, that it became necessary for 
King Richard to return to England, to 
do some business for the good of the 
people, which could not be done without 
him ; so he left his army in the Holy Land, 
and began his journey back to England 
with only a few servants or followers. 

But as he was passing through a 
country called Austria, the Duke or 
Prince of that country, who was a cruel 
and treacherous tyrant, seized upon King 
Richard, and put him into a prison. 



CCEUR DE LION. 35 

Nothing could be so shocking as this 
Duke of Austria's conduct, because the 
King was not only his friend, but, even if 
he had not been his friend, was entitled to 
every respect and protection, because he 
was a stranger in that country; and the 
king of every country is bound to protect 
all strangers travelling through it, as long 
as they behave themselves properly, and 
obey the laws. 

But the Duke of Austria was a savage, 
who loved nothing but money, and he 
seized King Richard in hopes that the 
people of England would give a great sum 
of money for his release. 

It is said that this vile Duke at first hid 
the King in a dark dungeon, in a castle 

c 2 



36 CCEUR DE LION. 

which was built in the midst of a great 
forest, and that no one knew what was 
become of him. 

But Richard had a faithful page, who 
loved him exceedingly, and this page wan- 
dered through all Germany to find out the 
place where his master was confined ; and 
whenever he came to a castle where he 
thought the King might be, he began to 
sing a song under the windows of the castle. 
And he always sang the same song, which 
was one that the King himself used to sing, 
and the page knew that if the King should 
hear this song, he would know who sang 
it, and would, perhaps, make himself 
known by singing the same song in return. 

Many was the castle, and many the 




jrr? 7A ■■■■' ■ fwv€ • »■ 



BLOXDEL BEFORE THE PRISON OF RICHARD CCBUH DK I. ion 



CCEUR DE LION. 37 

tower, under the walls of which the faith- 
ful page sang his song : but he never heard 
any voice in answer, till at last, by good 
fortune, he arrived at the very castle where 
the King was confined. 

Then he had no sooner sung the first 
verse of his song but Cgeur de Lion heard 
him, and immediately knew who it was 
that sang it, and just as the page expected, 
he answered by singing the second verse of 
the song, and so the page knew that he 
had at last found where his master was 
confined. 

Now as soon as it was known that the 
Duke of Austria had been so treacherous, 
all the other kings and princes in Europe 
endeavoured to procure Richard's release; 



38 CCEUR DE LION. 

but all in vain: for the Duke would not 
give him his liberty without a large ransom, 
that is, a great sum of money. 

So when the people of England heard 
this, they immediately collected their jewels 
and money, and made up the great sum 
which the Duke demanded, and sent it 
over to him, so that he had no longer any 
excuse for keeping Cceur de Lion : he 
accordingly let him go. 

The moment the King was at liberty, 
he, with his faithful page and other 
attendants, mounted their horses and gal- 
loped away, and travelled day and night, 
without stopping, on the road to England. 

And well it was that he did so : for the 
treacherous Duke had no sooner seen him 



CGEUR DE LION. 39 

depart, but he thought that he might have 
got a larger sum if he had kept him longer, 
and he immediately sent soldiers to ride 
after Cceur de Lion and bring him back 
as a prisoner again. 

These soldiers also rode day and night, 
and travelled quite as fast as the King, but 
as he had a day the start of them, they 
never could overtake him : and at last after 
a journey of a great many days and nights, 
the King arrived at the sea-side, and got 
into a ship, and was just sailing away for 
England at the very moment that the sol- 
diers arrived to stop him. 

But the King was already at sea, and 
out of their reach, and the soldiers got 
nothing by their journey but the trouble 



40 



CCEUR DE LION. 



and disgrace ; for every body hated the 
Duke's treachery, and were very glad that 
his soldiers had failed in overtaking the 
King ; who landed safely in England, and 
was received by all the people with the 
greatest joy, and they seemed to love Cceur 
de Lion the better for all the toils and 
misfortunes he had suffered. 







VII. 
ARTHUR. 

John, born 1166. — Died 1216. — Reigned 17 years. 



-<k 




ip' SHALL now tell you the 
story of Prince Arthur, which 
is a very melancholy one. 
m|^# Arthur was the nephew of Ri- 



fty chard Cgeur de Lion, and on 
the death of his uncle should have been 
king; but, unfortunately for him, he had 
another uncle called John, a very wicked, 
cruel man, who wanted to be king himself, 
and he made himself king accordingly — 
so, getting possession of poor young Ar- 



42 ARTHUR. 

thur, he immediately shut him up in a 
prison, a great, lonely tower, which was 
the most dismal place that can be ima- 
gined. The keeper of this prison was called 
Hubert, a bad man, whom King John 
employed in this business, because he pro- 
mised him to murder the poor Prince ; for 
John was afraid lest the people should in- 
sist on making his little nephew king. 

Arthur had not been long in this 
tower when the King sent an order to 
Hubert to put him to death; — but it 
seems Hubert was not quite so wicked 
as the King thought him to be, and he 
could' not bring himself to commit a mur- 
der on an innocent young creature like 
Arthur. 



ARTHUR. 43 

But as he was nevertheless willing to 
assist John, so far as to prevent Arthur's 
ever being king, he thought that if, instead 
of killing him, he was to put out the poor 
boy's eyes, it would prevent his ever being 
king just as well as if he killed him : this 
was, indeed, a very cruel design on the part 
of Hubert, but it was not quite so bad as 
killing him. 

But though Hubert had resolved to 
blind the poor Prince, he was not so savage 
as to think of doing it with his own hands ; 
so he hired two ruffians to commit this 
crime, and he gave them two irons, which 
they were to make red-hot in the fire, and 
then to thrust them into the eyes of the 
unhappy little boy. 



44 ARTHUR. 

When Hubert brought these two 
ruffians into Arthur's presence, the Prince 
was terrified at their wicked looks, at the 
irons which they held in their hands, and 
at the fire which was brought into the 
room in a brazen pan for the purpose of 
heating the irons ; but when he heard what 
their design was, he burst into tears, and 
fell on his knees to Hubert, and kissed his 
hands and his feet, and wept so bitterly, 
and prayed so earnestly, that Hubert's 
heart was moved with pity. 

And when the little innocent begged 
and entreated that, if his eyes must be 
put out, it should be done by the hands of 
Hubert himself, and not by the horrid 
ruffians, Hubert was so melted that he 




HUBERT AND PRINCE ARTHUR. 



ARTHUR. 45 

sent the ruffians away, and prepared to do 
the cruel work himself. 

But no sooner were they alone, than 
Arthur threw himself into Hubert's 
arms and kissed him, and used so many 
tender entreaties and prayers, that Hubert 
began to weep. 

Then it was that Arthur redoubled 
his prayers and entreaties : he told Hubert 
how much he had always loved him, how 
he had watched over him when he was ill, 
for Hubert had been sick a short time 
before ; he reminded Hubert of the horrid 
pain he had suffered when a little piece of 
straw only had accidentally got into his 
eye, and he prayed Hubert not to put him 
to the dreadful torture of having both his 



46 ARTHUR. 

eyes burned out ; nay, rather than undergo 
such shocking pain, he begged his dear 
Hubert, his sweet Hubert, his only friend, 
his only hope in the world (so he called 
him), to be so merciful as to put him to 
death, and kill him outright. 

It would make you weep if I were to 
tell you all the affectionate and tender 
things which the poor little Prince said 
to Hubert, sometimes kneeling at his feet, 
with his little hands joined as if praying; 
and sometimes hanging about Hubert's 
neck, and kissing his eyes and cheeks : in 
short, his entreaties, his prayers, his tears, 
and his kisses, had so much effect on Hu- 
bert, that he threw away the irons, and 
catching the poor Prince in his arms, swore 



ARTHUR. 47 

that he would never do him any harm, 
and that he would die himself rather than 
suffer any one to injure him. 

I leave you to judge how happy the 
little Prince was to hear these kind words 
from Hubert's mouth, and how affec- 
tionately he thanked this dear friend, 
who had so lately appeared his cruel 
enemy. 

But Hubert, who dreaded the King's 
fury when he should hear that he had 
neither blinded nor murdered Arthur, 
began to think how he and the Prince 
might make their escape together ; and he 
was obliged to go to find out some means 
of escaping from the cruel King. 

Arthur did not wish to part with him ; 



48 ARTHUR. 

but as Hubert could not stay, he was 
obliged to let him go, giving him a thou- 
sand kisses, and begging of him to hasten 
back as soon as possible. 

Now that poor Arthur was left alone 
in the tower, and now that his friend 
Hubert was gone, he began to be afraid 
lest the ruffians should come back and 
execute their first purpose ; and there hap- 
pening just then to be a great noise in 
another part of the tower, the poor boy 
thought the ruffians were coming, and in 
his terror, being resolved to suffer anything 
rather than have his eyes burned out, he 
opened a little window which was in the 
tower, and though it was almost the height 
of a house from the ground, he determined 



ARTHUR. 49 

to venture to leap out, and so escape the 
tortures he expected. 

He ought to have waited for the return 
of his friend Hubert, who would have 
saved him; but alas! his fears were too 
great, and he took the leap from that high 
window, and falling upon some hard pointed 
stones which lay on the ground under the 
window, he was dashed to pieces, and died 
on the spot. 

When the dead body was found under 
the walls of the tower, every body who 
knew the cruelty of John believed that, if 
he did not murder his poor little nephew 
himself, he was, at least, the cause of his 
death, which, indeed, was true enough; 
and then all the lords and people rose up 



50 ARTHUR. 

against that cruel monster, John, who 
afterwards spent a most miserable time, 
without a friend in the world, and soon 
died in great torments, unpitied by all man- 
kind, who remembered his cruelty to poor 
little Arthur. 




VIII. 
EDWARD'S ESCAPE. 

Henry III. born 1207.— Died 1 272.— Reigned 56 years. 



§jB#$}& HAVE already told you 
about two kings of the name of 
Henry ; I shall now tell you about 
vj|^ another, who was called Henry the 
W Third. 

This King was a very quiet, religious, 
and well-natured man, and would have 
been a very good King in quiet times ; but 
during his reign there were great riots and 
disturbances, and the King was not strong 
enough to keep all the unruly people in 

d2 




52 edward's escape. 

order : so there was, for a great many 
years, a deal of fighting, and several 
battles ; but King Henry had a son called 
Edward, and when Edward grew up to 
be a man he was one of the best and 
bravest princes in the world, and so he 
assisted his father in conquering all the 
unruly people, and in restoring peace and 
quiet throughout all England. 

But of all the wicked people who were 
rebelling and rioting, the worst of all was 
a great lord called Simon de Montford, 
Earl of Leicester. 

This Simon was so rich, that he kept a 
great number of soldiers, both horse and 
foot, at his command ; and as he was very 
clever as well as very rich, he contrived to 



Edward's escape. 53 

conquer poor King Henry, who was not at 
all clever ; and in one battle he took both 
the King and his son Edward prisoners. 

But this wickedness and rebellion of 
Simon's was soon after severely punished, 
as you shall hear. 

Though Prince Edward was a prisoner, 
Simon did not always keep him locked up 
in a dungeon ; he sometimes gave him 
leave to ride abroad on horseback, but he 
was still always surrounded with guards 
and soldiers, to prevent his escaping; but 
notwithstanding all these guards and 
soldiers, this brave young Prince contrived 
to escape in the following manner : — 

He had a cousin called Robert, who 
had a horse that was one of the swiftest 



54 edward's escape. 

in the world, and could gallop so fast that 
no other horse could overtake him ; so 
Robert lent this horse to Edward, and 
one day as Edward was riding him, sur- 
rounded, as usual, with guards and soldiers, 
he cunningly asked the guards to ride races 
with one another, which they, thinking it 
would be good sport, consented to do. 

So they rode a great many races, and 
some won and some lost the race ; but 
they had all galloped so fast that their 
horses were tired. 

But Prince Edward would not ride 
races himself, for fear of tiring his own 
horse, which he kept fresh and strong ; 
and when he saw the horses of all the 
guards quite out of breath and unable to 







ESCATE OF PRINCE EDWARD. 



edward's escape. 55 

gallop, he bade them good by, and, setting 
spurs to his own horse, galloped off like 
the wind, leaving the guards far behind, 
and laughing heartily to see them look so 
foolish ; for their horses were quite unable 
to overtake the Prince's horse- — and so 
Edward escaped out of Simon's power, 

I never heard what Simon did to the 
foolish guards, but I dare say he punished 
them very severely for letting the Prince 
escape so easily. 

Edward had no sooner escaped than 
he found friends everywhere, for he was 
greatly beloved for his goodness and 
courage, and he soon raised a great army, 
and marched at its head to fight Simon, 
and rescue the poor old King out of his 



56 edward's escape. 

power ; and Edward made so much haste, 
that he came up with him and his army 
quite unexpectedly, and while Simon 
thought that he was at least a hundred 
miles off. 

But the moment Simon saw the Prince, 
and his brave army, he knew that he should 
be conquered, and he cried out in great 
grief, " The Lord have mercy on our souls, 
for I see our bodies are the Prince's !" 
meaning that Edward would either kill 
them all, or take them prisoners. 

And so it happened : for the Prince 
immediately began the battle, and soon put 
Simon's army to flight; and Simon himself 
and his son, and a great number of his 
friends, were killed on the spot. 



Edward's escape. 57 

You may guess how glad Edward was 
to win this great victory ; but what pleased 
him most was, that he was so happy as to 
save his poor old father's life. 

For Simon, who kept the poor old King 
prisoner, dressed him, just as the battle was 
beginning, in armour, and placed him in 
the front of his army that he might be 
killed by his own friends. 

I told you once before that when a man 
was covered up in armour no one could 
know who he was ; and so, when King 
Henry's friends came to attack Simon's 
army, they began to strike at the man in 
armour, whom they did not know to be 
their own King. 

One of them wounded the King by 



58 edward's escape. 

thrusting his sword through one of the 
joints of the armour, upon which the King 
cried out, "Save me, save me, I am Henry, 
the King!" 

Prince Edward, who happened to be 
in this part of the battle, heard his father's 
voice, and immediately galloped up and 
saved him from the soldiers, and carried 
him away to his tent, where his wound was 
soon cured, and he lived six years after, 
happy in the affection and protection of 
his brave and good son Edward. 

This King Henry reigned longer than 
any king who has ever been in England 
except good King George the Third. 

It is curious that three kings who have 
been the third of their names, have reigned 



EDWARD S ESCAPE. 



59 



longer than any others. Henry the 
Third was king fifty-six years; Edward 
the Third fifty-one years ; and George 
the Third nearly sixty years. 




IX. 
THE CONQUEST OF WALES. 

Edward I. born 1239.— Died 1307.— Reigned 34 years. 

HERE is a part of the king- 
dom of England called Wales. 
Formerly Wales was a separate 
country, and had a prince of its own. 

The prince of that country having 
made war upon Edward King of Eng- 
land, it happened that he was conquered 
in the war, and his kingdom was taken 
away from him, and ever since that time 
Wales has been a part of the kingdom 
of England. 




THE CONQUEST OF WALES. 61 

You have been in Wales yourself — 
do you recollect, when you came last year 
from Ireland, that you passed through 
a country which was full of high moun- 
tains covered with snow ? — that was 
Wales. 

It is covered with snow in winter only ; 
in summer, when the rivers are not frozen, 
and that the trees have leaves, and that 
the fields are green, Wales is a very 
pretty country. 

You have been in Wales yourself 
during summer, but you forget it, as it is 
a great while ago; — but I dare say you 
would like to hear how King Edward got 
possession of Wales. Well, I shall tell 
you. 



62 THE CONQUEST OF WALES. 

As soon as the Prince of Wales made 
war upon King Edward, which he ought 
not to have done, and which was very 
wicked in him, because he had promised 
not to make war, Edward marched with 
a great English army, and, as I told you, 
soon conquered the Welsh Prince, who 
was taken prisoner and put to death for 
breaking his word. 

But though the Welsh Prince was 
taken and killed, the Welsh people did 
not choose to submit to King Edward, 
as they wanted to have a prince of their 
own. 

There was a kind of men in Wales 
who were called Bards ; these Bards sang 
songs, and told tales and stories, and 



> Jt ^%^ 




THE CONQUEST OF WALES. 63 

played upon the harp ; and the songs they 
sang, and the stories they told, were old 
Welsh songs and stories about the strength, 
and courage, and goodness of the old 
princes of Wales. 

They used to sing these songs to music 
which they played on their harps ; and 
they played and sang so well, that all 
the Welsh people thought that their own 
princes were the bravest and best in the 
whole world; and they resolved to die 
rather than have an English king like 
Edward. 

For a long time Edward did not know 
what to do; for the people would only 
listen to the Bards, who encouraged them 
to battle, and would not submit to the 



64 THE CONQUEST OF WALES. 

English; at last, however, he determined 
to put all the Bards to death. 

This was very cruel of him; for the 
poor Bards were only defending their 
own country, which they had a right 
to do. 

Edward, nevertheless, resolved to put 
them to death ; and accordingly, he hunted 
the poor Bards into all the mountains and 
woods, and, whenever he caught any of 
them, he put them immediately to death ; 
and in a little time they were all taken and 
put to death, except one who lived on a 
high rock, over a river, where Edward's 
soldiers could not get at him. 

But the poor Bard was soon weary of 
living alone in this desolate place, and he 



THE CONQUEST OF WALES. 65 

was sorry to remain alive after all his 
brothers and friends had been killed. 

So one day that Edward and his army 
were marching along, on the other side of 
the river, at the foot of the rock, the Bard 
appeared on the top of the rock ; he had 
his harp in his hand, and his long beard 
and hair, which were quite grey, were 
streaming in the wind. 

Then he called upon Edward with a 
loud voice, and began a strange melan- 
choly song, in which he foretold great mis- 
fortunes to Edward for his cruelty in 
Wales. 

Edward and all his soldiers were very 
much enraged, and wished to be able to 
get up to the Bard and to kill him ; but he 



66 THE CONQUEST OF WALES. 

saved them the trouble : for having ended 
his strange melancholy song, and cursed 
King Edward and his soldiers, he threw 
himself headlong from that high rock into 
the river below, and was either dashed to 
pieces or drowned, for he never was heard 
of again. 

Now, though Edward had thus got 
rid of the Prince of Wales, and of all the 
Bards, still the people would not submit to 
him, and they were still resolved to die 
rather than have any Prince who was not 
born in Wales, or who could speak 
English, they hated the English so much. 

When Edward heard this, and saw 
that he could never succeed by force, he 
resolved to try a stratagem, or trick. 



THE CONQUEST OF WALES. 67 

So he said to the people, ' If I give you 
a Prince born in Wales, and who cannot 
speak English, will you obey him ?' 

The Welsh all cried out that they 
would. 

Then the King took his own little son, 
who was just born, in his arms, and showed 
him to the people, and said, ' Then here is 
your Prince ; for he has been just born in 
Carnarvon Castle, which is in Wales, 
and he cannot speak one word of 
English.' 

The people, you may be sure, were 
greatly surprised to see a little tiny boy, 
when they expected to see a great Prince ; 
but, as they had promised to accept whom- 
soever should be born in Wales, and 

e2 



68 



THE CONQUEST OF WALES. 



could not speak English, they were obliged 
to submit, and so they did. 

And ever since that time the eldest son 
of the King of England is made Prince of 
Wales a day or two after he is born. 



N^^^J^jUg^^ 




X. 

EDWARD OF CARNARVON. 

Edward II. born 1284 —Died 1327— Reigned 19 years* 




»HE little Prince who was, as I 

J 

[1 before told you, the first Prince 
of Wales, was called Edward 
of Carnarvon, from Carnarvon Castle, 
in which he was born ; and when he came 
to be King, on his father's death, he was 
called Edward the Second. 

This poor King was neither wise, nor 
brave, nor fortunate — he had false friends, 
a wicked wife, and rebellious subjects : his 



70 EDWARD OF CARNARVON. 

whole life was unfortunate, and his death 
miserable. 

It would be too long to tell you the 
history of all the unhappy events of Ed- 
ward's life ; I shall only tell you of his 
cruel imprisonment and death. 

His wicked wife and his rebellious sub- 
jects having made him prisoner, kept him 
in close confinement, and appointed three 
keepers to watch him in turn : one of 
these men watched him for one month, 
and then another, and so on. 

Now two of these men were cruel, hard- 
hearted, and savage wretches ; and when 
their months came they treated the poor 
Kins in a most cruel manner : the other 
keeper was Lord Berkely, and the poor 



EDWARD OF CARNARVON. 71 

King was always glad when his month 
came; for Lord Berkely was not so 
savage as the other two, and he treated 
poor Edward with some tenderness and 
respect. 

One day when the King was in the 
keeping of one of those two vile ruffians, 
he wished to be washed and shaved. But 
instead of getting him clean warm water 
for these purposes, the ruffians sent out 
to the ditch by the road side, and had a 
basin of muddy, dirty, cold water brought 
in. 

When the poor King saw this he could 
not help bursting out into tears at this 
insult and cruelty ; and when his tears ran 
down his cheeks, he exclaimed, ' Behold, 



72 EDWARD OF CARNARVON. 

here is clean warm water !' for the water 
of his tears was warm and clean. 

The hopes of his wicked wife and these 
ruffians were, that, by his confinement, and 
these hardships, the health and spirits of the 
poor King might decay, and that he might 
waste away and die, and so save them the 
trouble of murdering him by violence. 

But when thev found this method too 
slow, they resolved to despatch him in a 
quicker and more cruel way. 

So one time when Lord Berkely was 
sick, — Lord Berkely, you know, was the 
good natured keeper, — so then when he 
was sick, the other two ruffians took that 
opportunity of executing their horrid de- 
sign : and, getting into Berkely Castle in 




MURDER OF EDWARD II. IX BERKELEY CASTLE. 



EDWARD OF CARNARVON. 73 

the night, they broke into the poor King's 
room, and burned him to death with red 
hot irons, in the most cruel tortures. 

The horrid deed was discovered by the 
screams with which the poor tortured King 
filled all the castle; but when the guards 
ran to the room it was already too late to 
save him — poor Edward of Carnarvon 
was dead. 

The two ruffians made their escape be- 
yound sea, but one of them was soon taken 
prisoner, and put to death for his crimes ; 
the other suffered a still greater punish- 
ment; for he lived many years, a miserable 
wretch, tortured in his own mind by the 
recollection of his crimes, and an object of 
horror and hatred both to God and man. 



XL 
THE SIEGE OE CALAIS. 

Edward III. born 1312.— Died 1377.— Reigned 51 years. 







T 



ING EDWARD the THIRD 

was the son of Edward of Car- 
narvon; but though, perhaps, 
he was not a better man than 
his poor father, he was a braver soldier, a 
greater king, and had a happier reign. 
You have heard of Calais. 
Calais is a town in France, the nearest 
to England ; and when your papa and 
mamma went to France, Calais was the 
first town where they arrived. 



THE SIEGE OF CALAIS. 75 

I shall tell you a story about King Ed- 
ward the Third and the town of Calais. 

King Edward, who was, as I have just 
told you, a brave soldier, was at war with 
the King of France ; and, in order to 
carry on the war, he wanted to get posses- 
sion of Calais. 

Because, as Calais was so near Eng- 
land, he could collect all his troops and 
armies in that town, ready to march out 
into France whenever he should please to 
attack the French. 

So he gathered a great army, and 
marched to attack Calais : but the 
French had built a high, thick wall round 
Calais, and had dug a deep ditch round 
the wall, which they filled with water, so 



76 THE SIEGE OF CALAIS. 

that no one could get into the town, ex- 
cept by a little bridge over the ditch, and a 
gate which was in the wall. 

But the bridge was a drawbridge, which 
is a kind of bridge easily moved away when- 
ever the people choose, and when it was 
moved away no one could cross the ditch ; 
and the gate was a great strong gate, made 
of oak and iron ; and when the gate was 
shut and fastened on the inside, with locks, 
and bolts, and chains, it was almost impos- 
sible to force it open. 

Now when King Edward marched 
with his army to attack Calais, the peo- 
ple removed the bridge and shut the gate ; 
so that Edward's army could not get in — 
which put Edward into a great rage. 



THE SIEGE OF CALAIS. 77 

So he made his soldiers shoot arrows 
into the town over the walls, to kill those 
who were within ; and those who were 
within shot out arrows again, and killed a 
great many of Edward's soldiers; and so 
they went on for weeks and weeks, shoot- 
ing and killing each other; but Edward 
could not get into Calais. 

But though Edward could not get into 
Calais, he placed his army so close all 
round about it, that the people of Calais 
could not stir out of the town into the coun- 
try, to get bread and meat, or wine. So you 
may judge that the quantity of wine, meat, 
and bread, which they had prepared and 
laid up in storehouses and cellars, was 
growing less and less every day, until, at 



78 THE SIEGE OF CALAIS. 

last, there was none left, and the people 
were starving with hunger. 

Then they had nothing else to do but 
to attack Edward's army, and drive it 
away, or else to submit to Edward — but 
his army was too strong; and these poor 
people were too weak to drive it away ; so 
they were obliged to submit, after resisting 
a great many months. 

But Edward was in such a rage at this 
long resistance, and at the number of his 
soldiers who had been killed, and all the 
labour and toil he and his army had suf- 
fered, that he resolved to put all the poor 
people of Calais to death. His generals 
and ministers advised him not to be so cruel 
as to put all the people to death, who had 



THE SIEGE OF CALAIS. 79 

committed no fault, but only defended their 
own town, which they had a right to do ; 
and they said so much to the King, that 
he at last consented to put six only of the 
inhabitants of Calais to death. 

When this was known in Calais, all 
the people assembled in the great square, 
in extreme fear, because, though only six 
were to be hanged, nobody knew but he 
himself might be one of the six. So there 
were great debates and terrors who the six 
poor victims were to be : every one was 
unwilling to give up his neighbour ; but at 
the same time every one was anxious to 
save his own life. 

At last, while they were in this con- 
sternation and doubt what to do, one brave 



80 THE SIEGE OF CALAIS. 

and generous man called Saint Pierre, 
stood forth and said, 'My friends, I offer 
myself willingly to be the first to die, for 
the safety of the rest.' 

This was one of the noblest and most 
generous actions which can be conceived ; 
for this brave man offered to suffer the pain 
and horrors of death to save the lives of 
the rest of his fellow-citizens, who would 
have been all put to death if the six should 
not be found. 

When Saint Pierre gave this noble ex- 
ample, another brave man soon offered to 
die with him, and then another, and another, 
until the whole six were found. 

Then these six generous and good men 
were dressed in vile clothes, like common 







QUEEN PHILIPPA INTERCEDING FOR THE CITIZENS OF CALAIS. 



THE SIEGE OF CALAIS. 81 

robbers ; and, barefooted, with halters round 
their necks, they were marched into Ed- 
ward's presence, and they laid the keys 
of the gate of Calais at his feet : as soon 
as they had done this, Edward ordered 
them immediately to be taken away and 
hanged. 

All the English generals and ministers 
and the whole army were sorry to see these 
brave men put to so vile a death, but 
Edward was so enraged that he would not 
pardon them ; but at last his wife, Queen 
Philippa, who had heard the weeping and 
lamentations of the wives and children of 
these poor men, hastened into the King's 
presence, and threw herself at the foot of 
his throne, and wept and prayed to the 



82 THE SIEGE OF CALAIS. 

King so strongly to spare the lives of the 
six, that he could not resist her tears and 
entreaties, and he granted the poor crea- 
tures their pardon. 

Then the Queen took them away to her 
own tent and ordered them an excellent 
supper ; and when they had eaten and 
drunk, and refreshed themselves, she sent 
them back to Calais with large presents of 
money and clothes, as rewards for their 
generosity and courage. 




XII. 
WAT TYLER. 

Richard II. born 1366.— Died 1399.— Reigned 12 years. 




J^HERE are often great riots in 
England, which are sometimes 



very dangerous ; for when mobs as- 
f^ semble, nobody knows what such a 
great crowd of foolish ignorant people may 
do : but one time, about four hundred 
years ago, there happened the most danger- 
ous riots that ever were known, for all the 
country people armed themselves with 
sticks, and staves, and scythes, and pitch- 
forks, and they rose in such great numbers, 

f2 



84 WAT TYLER. 

that they drove away all the King's soldiers, 
and got possession of the city of London. 

The chief leaders of this mob were 
not gentlemen nor soldiers, but common 
peasants and tradesmen, who were called 
after the names of their trades, Wat 
Tyler, Hob Carter, and Tom Miller ; 
and, as these fellows could neither read 
nor write, and were poor ignorant creatures, 
they took a great hatred against all gentle- 
men, and everybody who could read and 
write, and they put several of them to 
death ; and the whole city was kept for 
several days in the greatest confusion and 
danger, and all quiet, honest people were 
afraid for their lives. 

The King at this time was called 



WAT TYLER. 85 

Richard, — not Cceur de Lion, — but 
another King Richard, who was called 
Richard the Second. He was the 
grandson of Edward the Third, but 
he was neither so wise nor so fortunate 
as his grandfather, who was a great king. 
Richard was very young, not more than 
seventeen years old, and it is not surprising 
that he hardly knew how to stop the pro- 
ceedings of this riotous mob; for his 
soldiers were driven away, many of his 
ministers were put to death, and the rest 
of them were forced to fly. 

At last the King thought it best to go 
and meet the mob; and hear what they 
had to say. So he went with the Lord 
Mayor, and a few other lords and gentle- 



86 WAT TYLER. 

men, to a place called Smithfield, where 
the mob were encamped, as if they had 
been an army. When Wat Tyler, who 
was their chief leader, saw the young King 
coming, he advanced to meet him; and 
then they began to talk and dispute to- 
gether ; but at length, Wat Tyler was so 
insolent to the King, that his conduct was 
not to be borne ; and, although it was in 
sight of his own army, the Lord Mayor of 
London had the courage to strike him 
down with his mace, and then the other 
gentlemen put Wat Tyler immediately 
to death. 

The rioters, seeing Wat Tyler, their 
leader, fall, prepared to revenge themselves 
on the King and his party ; and the whole, 




TYLER SLAIH BY SIR WILLIAM WALWORTH. 



WAT TYLER, 87 

even the King himself, would undoubtedly 
have been murdered on the spot, but that 
Richard, young as he was, saved them all 
by his own courage — for when he saw 
the mob so furious, instead of seeming 
frightened, he rode up to them alone, and 
said to them in a good-humoured manner, 
' What is the matter, my good people ? 
Are you angry that you have lost your 
leader ? I am your King, and I will be 
your leader myself.' 

The mob was astonished and overawed 
by the young King's courage, and they 
immediately obeyed him, and followed him 
out into the fields ; for the King was glad 
to get them out of the city, where they 
were committing all manner of mischief. 



88 WAT TYLER. 

When he had them in the fields, he 
had such a strong guard of his own soldiers 
that he was no longer afraid of the rioters. 
So he commanded them all to go quietly 
to their own houses; which accordingly 
they immediately did, and not a life was 
lost after the death of Wat Tyler ; who 
very well deserved to die for his rebellion 
against the King, and for all the mischief 
and murders that his rebellion had occa- 
sioned. 



XIII. 
MADCAP HARRY. 

Henry IV. born 1368.— Died 1413.— Reigned 13 years. 




ING HENRY the FOURTH 

had a son, who was called, as I 
told you all the eldest sons of 
our kings are, Prince of 
Wales. His own name was Henry also : 
but he was very wild and gay, and so free 
with the people, that they commonly called 
him Harry, and sometimes he was called 
the Madcap Prince of Wales. 

He played several wild pranks in his 
youth, and gave his father a great deal of 



90 MADCAP HARRY. 

pain and trouble, and sometimes got him- 
self into very naughty scrapes. I shall tell 
you one of them. 

Among his riotous companions there 
was one whom he loved better than the 
rest — a great fat, good-humoured old fellow, 
called Sir John Falstaff. This old 
fellow spent all his time in eating, drinking, 
and making merry ; and as he used to 
amuse Prince Harry with his jests and 
stories, Harry was very fond of his com- 
pany : so one evening that they were drink- 
ing and laughing together, with several 
other of their riotous companions, the fat 
old rogue proposed to the Prince that they 
should sally out that night and rob some 
travellers who were travelling in a certain 



MADCAP HARRY. 91 

part of the road between Rochester and 
London with a great deal of money. This 
was a fine plan to propose to a young 
Prince, to go out on the high road and rob 
his father's subjects ; but the Prince looked 
upon it only as a joke, and so he consented. 
So they all went out on the road, and 
just at the very spot which old Falstaff 
had foretold, they met the travellers, and 
in a minute they fell upon the travellers 
and robbed them of all their money ; and 
when they had got the money, they all re- 
turned back again to London, and went to 
a tavern where they ordered a great supper 
and plenty of wine, which they intended to 
pay for out of the money they had taken 
from the travellers. 



92 MADCAP HARRY. 

The travellers, as soon as they had 
been robbed, ran away in the greatest 
fright, and hid themselves, lest the thieves 
should kill or wound them ; but they did 
not run so far but that they were near 
enough to watch the robbers, to see which 
way they should go. So they followed the 
Prince, Fal staff, and their party, at a 
distance, until they saw them safely lodged 
at the tavern where they were to sup. 
When the travellers saw this, they left one 
or two to watch the house, and the others 
went away to the Sheriff, to complain that 
they had been robbed, and to get assist- 
ance to catch the thieves; so the Sheriff 
got a party of people with him, and set off 
in great haste to lay hold of the thieves ; 



MADCAP HARRY. 93 

but when he came to the house where the 
other travellers were watching, and got 
into the room where the party was at sup- 
per, you may judge of the Sheriff's surprise 
and fright when he saw the King s son 
amongst the supposed robbers. The tra- 
vellers were as much frightened as he ; but 
they, nevertheless, all declared that the fat 
old man was one of the party, for they 
knew him by his great size, which he could 
not conceal, though he wore a mask over 
his face; and, indeed, the Prince and all 
the rest had worn masks too. So the 
Sheriff did not well know what to do, but 
he thought it best to carry the whole party 
before the Judge. When the Judge was 
told that a party of robbers were taken 



94 MADCAP HARRY. 

prisoners, he ordered them all to be brought 
before him ; and he was ten times more 
amazed than the Sheriff when he saw the 
Prince of Wales brought before him as 
a robber ; but he was not frightened. So 
he said to the Prince, that he was sorry and 
surprised to see him in such bad company J 
that out of respect for the King his father, 
he would not send him to jail ; but that, 
as for old Falstaff and the rest, he would 
send them to jail that very night, and that 
he would go next morning to the old King 
to tell him the whole of Harry's miscon- 
duct. This speech so incensed Harry, 
that what do you think he did ? — he raised 
his hand in a violent fury, and gave the 
good old Judge a box on the ear. Upon 




PRINCE HENRY STRIKING THE CHIEF JUSTICE. 



MADCAP HARRY. 95 

which the Judge, although Harry was the 
son of the King, yet since he dared to in- 
sult the law by striking a Judge, he imme- 
diately ordered him to be taken prisoner, 
and carried off to jail that very night; and 
there Harry was obliged to remain all 
night without food to eat ; but perhaps he 
was not hungry, as he probably had eaten 
his supper before he was taken. 

Early in the morning the good old 
Judge went to the King, and told him the 
whole story; when the King applauded what 
he had done, and obliged the Prince to beg 
the old Judge's pardon for his violent con- 
duct. So the Prince, who by this time had 
become a little cool, and who saw how much 
he was in the wrong, very willingly con- 



96 MADCAP HARRY. 

fessed how improper his conduct had been ; 
and humbly bagged the Judge to pardon 
him, which of course the good old man 
did; and then King Henry said, u Iama 
happy King to have so honest a Judge, who 
was not afraid to send my son to prison ; 
and I am a happy father to have so good a 
son, who is not ashamed to confess his fault, 
and submit himself to the law which he 
had offended." 




PRINCE HENRY BRINGS BACK THE CROWN. 



XIV. 
THE CROWN. 

Henry V. born 1389.— Died 1422.— Reigned 9 years. 



-*-<#* 




001^ HAVE told you what a 
wild young man Harry the Mad- 
cap Prince of Wales was; I 
shall now tell how he afterwards 
became one of the best kings that 
ever reigned in England, . 

When the old King, his father, was in 
his last illness, it happened one day that he 
fell asleep : while he was asleep the Prince 
came into the room, and seeing his father 
lying with his eyes shut, he thought he was 



98 THE CROWN. 

dead. He was sorry for his father, but not 
so much as a good child ought to be ; and 
so, seeing the crown, which was lying on 
the King's pillow, he took it, put it on his 
own head, and walked away with it, be- 
lieving that the old King was dead, and 
that he was now King himself. 

He had not been long gone, when the 
old King awoke, and observing that the 
crown was not on his pillow, he asked who 
had dared to take it away ? and when the 
attendants told him that the Prince of 
Wales had taken it away, he desired that 
the Prince of Wales might be called. 

So the Prince came — not wearing, as 
you may suppose, the crown on his head, 
but carrying it humbly in his hand, and 



THE CROWN. 99 

when he came near his father's bed, he 
kneeled down, and laid the crown on the 
bed : then the King chided him for his im- 
patience for his poor old father's death ; he 
told him he was so sick that he would not 
have much longer to wait for the crown, 
and that, whenever he got it, he would find 
it more pain than pleasure to wear it ; for 
that a king was obliged to watch over the 
happiness and comfort of all his people, 
and that all the misfortunes which hap- 
pened throughout the whole country must 
reach the king, who ought to be the father 
of all, and feel for all, as a father does for 
his children. 

The Prince was now very penitent for 
his conduct, and begged his father's par- 

G 2 



100 THE CROWN. 

don ; he assured him that he did not wish 
for his death, nor to be king in his stead ; 
but he promised him that whenever he 
should become king, (which he hoped 
would not happen for many, many years,) 
he should endeavour to be a good king and 
a father to his people. 

So the old King was delighted to hear 
the Prince speak so virtuously and wisely, 
and he forgave him for all his past follies, 
and gave the Prince his blessing, and soon 
after the old King died. 

Then Prince Henry became really 
King; and he remembered his promise to his 
father, and resolved to leave off all the wild 
tricks of his youth, and to behave with dig- 
nity and wisdom as a king ought to do. 



THE CROWN. 101 

But the people hardly believed that he 
would make so very sudden a change in his 
conduct ; and old Fal staff, and the rest 
of the Prince's wild companions, thought 
that now he was King they should be great 
favourites, and become great men, and be 
allowed to follow their own practices to 
their hearts' content. 

But, if the riotous companions were full 
of hope and joy, all the wise and good peo- 
ple were greatly alarmed at the prospect 
of a wild, wicked, riotous King; but no 
one was so much frightened as the good 
old Judge, about whom I have told you, 
and who had put the Prince into prison for 
having insulted him. 

So the day the new King was crowned, 



102 TFIE CROWN. 

there were the lords and the bishops, and 
gentlemen, and the rest of the people, all 
paying their duty to him; and amongst 
others, old Fal staff and his fellows, who 
expected great favour from their merry 
Prince ; and the old Judge, who expected 
to be severely treated by him. 

But both were disappointed, as you 
shall hear: — for the King, when he came 
to the old Judge, put on a grave face, and 
pretended to be very angry with him, and 
asked him how he dare come into his pre- 
sence, after having once sent him to prison : 
so the old Judge, who, as I before told 
you, was a brave and good man, justified 
himself to the King, and maintained that 
he had done only his duty, and that the 



THE CROWN. 103 

King ought to thank him instead of being 
angry. Then the King said, "And I do 
thank you, and you are a brave and good 
man; and since you were so honest as to 
put the law in force against me, I am sure 
you will always use it to protect the people, 
and therefore I make you Lord Chief Jus- 
tice of England." 

But he gave Fal staff and the others 
a very different reception; for he turned 
round to them and said, " Be gone out of 
my sight ! you led me astray, you encou- 
raged me to commit faults, and to forget 
my duty to my father and the people, 
therefore I banish you from my presence. 
I will not punish you more, because I was 
as much in fault as you, and because I 



104 



THE CROWN. 



cannot help feeling a little regard for my 
old companions; but I will never admit 
you to my company again, and therefore 
begone, and let me never see you more ! " 




XV. 
THE GENEROUS ROBBER. 

Henry VI. born 1421.— Died 1471.— Reigned 38 years. 

'OU remember, I hope, the sto- 
ries I have told you about King 
Henry the Fifth, he who was 
so wild a Prince and so good a 
King. He fought a great many 
battles with the French, and 
conquered them in all : but when he 
died he left a little son, also called 
Henry, so very young, that though a 
crown was put upon his head, and 
that he was called King Henry the 




106 THE GENEROUS ROBBER. 

Sixth, yet he could not act as King; 
and even afterwards, when he grew up to 
be a man, he was unfortunately such a 
poor silly person that he was little better 
than a child, though he was married, and 
had a little son himself. The story I am 
now going to tell you is about this silly 
King's wife and child. 

During all this poor King's reign there 
was nothing but confusion, bloodshed, and 
battles throughout all England ; for a 
cousin of his, called Edward, Duke of 
York, wanted to be king in Henry's 
stead. 

I hope you recollect what I told you 
once about armour, and how those who 
were dressed in armour were not to be 



THE GENEROUS ROBBER. 107 

known from one another, because neither 
their limbs nor faces could be seen. So in 
those times, when armies were going to 
fight, they wore some kind of mark on the 
outside of their helmets or iron hats, that 
they might know one another, and not kill 
their own friends. Now in these wars 
between Henry and Edward, all Hen- 
ry's soldiers wore Red Roses in their hel- 
mets, and Edward's party wore White 
Roses. But this could only be in summer, 
when roses blow; so in winter I suppose 
Henry's men wore red ribands, and Ed- 
ward's white ribands, which perhaps were 
tied up in the shape of roses ; and for this 
reason these wars, which were very long and 
bloody, were called the Wars of the Roses. 



108 THE GENEROUS ROBBER. 

It happened that in a great battle that 
was fought between those parties, the Red 
Roses — that is to say, King Henry's 
friends — were bitterly beaten; poor Hen- 
ry himself was taken prisoner by the 
White Roses, and his wife and child, who 
was a very little boy, only escaped from 
their enemies by flying into the forests to 
hide themselves. 

But unluckily they had not made much 
way in the forest, when they fell in with a 
band of robbers; these robbers did not 
know who they were, but as the Queen and 
little Prince had fine clothes, with orna- 
ments of silver and gold, the robbers found 
they had a good prize, and began to strip 
and plunder them both in that dark forest. 



THE GENEROUS ROBBER. 109 

But it so happened that the robbers 
could not agree about sharing the plunder 
which they had taken, and they began to 
quarrel amongst themselves with so much 
fury, that, in the darkness of the night, the 
Queen contrived to make her escape with 
her son into the depth of the wood, where 
she hoped the robbers could not find her 
again, and she expected when daylight 
came, she might be able to find a way to 
make her escape both from the robbers, 
and any soldiers of the White Rose who 
should be in search of her. 

So she wandered all night in the forest, 
and having had nothing to eat or to drink, 
she and the little Prince were greatly tired, 
and almost ready to die with hunger and 



110 THE GENEROUS ROBBER. 

weariness ; but when morning came, the 
first thing they saw was one of the rob- 
bers coming towards them with a drawn 
sword. 

He looked as if he meant to kill them, 
and the poor Queen thought that it was 
now all over with her and her poor son ; 
but she fortunately thought there was still 
one chance left, which was, to gain over 
the robber to assist and protect them, and 
she resolved to try it. So instead of run- 
ning away and appearing afraid of him, 
they advanced boldly to meet the robber, 
and she said to him, in a kind voice, ' My 
good friend, you look like a generous man, 
who would not betray nor hurt the un- 
fortunate ; here is your King's son, I 




QUEEN MARGARET AND THE ROBBER. 



THE GENEROUS ROBBER. Ill 

commit him and myself to your humanity 
and honour.' 

The robber was greatly surprised at 
these words ; but, by good luck, he was a 
man who, although a robber, had not lost 
all good nature and generosity ; and when 
he saw that the Queen threw herself under 
his protection, he resolved not only not to 
do her any mischief, but to help and 
protect her, and to assist her in escaping 
from the hands of her enemies. 

So he hid the Queen and the Prince 
for some time in the forest, all the paths 
and lurking places of which he knew per- 
fectly, and he fed and guarded them with 
great tenderness and care; till after some 
time, when the search after her began to 



112 THE GENEROUS ROBBER. 

be a little less strict, he contrived to con- 
duct her to the sea-shore, where he pro- 
cured a ship, in which he placed her and 
her son, and then bidding them farewell, 
and praying for their safety, he fled back 
into the forest ; while the ship sailed away 
over the sea, and soon after reached the 
opposite coast, where the Queen and Prince 
landed in safety, and told their friends the 
surprising history of their escape which I 
have just told you. 




XVI. 
THE DEATH OF CLAEENCE. 

Edward IV. born 1442.— Died 1483.— Reigned 22 years. 




)HERE was once a King in 
England called Edward the 
Fourth ; he was the same Ed- 
ward who, before he was King, was called 
Duke of York, and who belonged to the 
White Rose party. This King had two 
brothers; one was called George, and 
the other was called Richard. 

George was a handsome Prince, but 
had been guilty of a great many faults and 
follies; but Richard was a crooked-back, 



114 THE DEATH OF CLARENCE. 

deformed, ill-natured, wicked wretch. The 
King was very fond of his brothers at 
first, and he made George Duke of 
Clarence, and Richard he made Duke 
of Gloucester. 

Now Richard was so wicked, that he 
was not contented with being Duke of 
Gloucester, but he resolved in his own 
mind that he would try to be king; and 
for this purpose he determined to kill both 
his brothers, and his brother Edward's 
little sons; that when they were thus 
taken out of his way, he might be 
king. 

You may be sure he kept this design a 
great secret, for if it had been known, he 
would have been put to death himself; so 



THE DEATH OF CLARENCE. 115 

he was obliged to act very cautiously and 
cunningly. 

So he endeavoured by all manner of 
tricks and lies to make his brothers quar- 
rel : to the King he told falsehoods of 
George, and to George of the King; 
and as George was, as I told you, often 
foolish and wicked, Richard so far suc- 
ceeded as to make George offend the 
King very often and very much, and the 
King at last was obliged to order George 
to be taken up and sent a prisoner to 
the Tower. 

But this did not satisfy the cruel 
Richard ; he wanted his brother's death, 
and not merely his imprisonment; and so 
he went on by all manner of wicked arts 

h2 



116 THE DEATH OF CLARENCE. 

to effect the destruction of the Duke of 
Clarence, and he at last succeeded, and 
poor George was condemned to death. 

On the night before George was con- 
demned to death, he dreamed a strange 
dream, — that he was sailing in a ship with 
his brother Richard, and that when they 
were walking together along the side of 
the ship, Richard thrust him overboard 
into the sea : then Clarence fancied that 
he was drowning, and that he felt all 
the pains and horrors of that dreadful 
kind of death ; but this was not the worst 
part of his dream ; for he dreamed that, 
after his death, all the crimes he had 
ever committed were brought up against 
him, and that he suffered dreadful punish- 



THE DEATH OF CLARENCE. 117 

ments for all his wickedness ; and when 
he awoke from this shocking dream, he 
was in the greatest fright and trouble 
imaginable. 

But his dream turned out to be in 
some parts too true, for that same day 
he heard he was condemned to death : 
and what do you think was the kind of 
death that he was to suffer ? It was a 
very strange one, one that was never heard 
of before nor since. 

This foolish George, it seems, was 
very fond of Malmsey wine, and he thought 
that, since he was to die, it would be 
pleasanter to die in drinking that wine 
than in any other way ; and so he chose 
to be drowned in a cask of Malmsey. 



118 



THE DEATH OF CLARENCE. 



Accordingly a great cask of this wine 
was brought into the Tower, and Cla- 
rence was taken by the persons appointed 
to put him to death, and put down head- 
foremost into the cask, and in a very 
few minutes he was drowned and died. 



%55&^&4Wft*^3^^ 




XVII. 
JANE SHORE. 

Edward V. born 1470. — Died 1483. — Reigned 2 months. 






HEN King Edward the 
Fourth died, he left behind 
him two little sons, the eldest 
only thirteen years of age, and 
the second only nine. 
The eldest, whose name was also 
Edward, being so called after his father, 
was crowned, young as he was, by the 
name of King Edward the Fifth; 
but his uncle Crookback Richard, 
Duke of Gloucester, was appointed to 




120 JANE SHORE. 

govern the kingdom till the little King 
should grow big enough to govern it 
himself. 

This vile monster Richard, as I told 
you before, wished to be king himself, 
and for this purpose he intended to mur- 
der his little nephews ; but as they had 
a great many powerful friends, he thought 
it safest for him to begin by getting rid 
of some of these friends. 

There was in those days a great lord 
whose name was Hastings, who had a 
great deal of power in England; and 
Crookback Richard endeavoured to get 
this Lord Hastings over to his own 
party ; but Lord Hastings had been a 
friend of the late King, and he declared 



JANE SHORE. 121 

he would protect the young King and his 
little brother with his life. 

So then Richard found that he must 
make away with Lord Hastings before 
he could make any attempt on the little 
King. 

Accordingly one day he called a coun- 
cil of several great lords and gentlemen, as 
if to consult about the affairs of the king- 
dom; Lord Hastings came there with 
the rest; and as soon as they were all 
assembled, and the doors shut, Crook- 
back Richard, in a furious voice, asked 
what those persons deserved who wished 
to put him to death ? 

All the councillors looked at one 
another in amazement, for they did not 



122 JANE SHORE. 

know what he meant; and Lord Hast- 
ings said, that if any person wished to 
put Richard to death, that person ought 
to be punished. 

' Dost thou answer me with ifs ?' cried 
Richard in a fury ; ' audacious traitor ! 
you yourself are one of those persons. See/ 
said he to the councillors, baring his arm 
up to the shoulder, and showing how 
crooked and shrivelled it was — ' See,' said 
he, 'how that traitor Hastings and the 
witch Shore have disfigured me by 
witchcraft.' 

The councillors were now more amazed 
than ever, for they all knew that neither 
Hastings nor any one else had done this, 
because Richard was born with this de- 



JANE SHORE. 123 

formed and withered arm ; but they were 
all afraid to say a word, for Richard 
swore by St. Paul he would not dine till 
he had Hastings's head. 

So he struck the council table with his 
hand, and a crowd of soldiers rushed in, 
who, after wounding several of the coun- 
cillors, carried off Lord Hastings, and cut 
off his head on a block of wood which 
happened to lie in the court-yard, and 
they brought the head to Richard before 
he dined. 

But Richard's rage was not satisfied 
with the death of Hastings ; he resolved 
also to put to death the witch Shore, 
as he called her. 

Jane Shore was a beautiful woman, 



124 JANE SHORE. 

who had been a friend of the late King, 
and, now that he was dead, she and Lord 
Hastings were great friends to the little 
King and his brother. 

Poor Jane Shore had committed 
many faults, but she had also done a 
great deal of good; for she was very 
humane and charitable to the poor and all 
other unfortunate persons ; and while King 
Edward the Fourth was alive, she 
always was civil and kind to every one who 
had any favours to ask of the King. 

By these means she was greatly be- 
loved by the people, but she was equally 
hated by Crookeack Richard, and so he 
accused her of being a witch, and wither- 
ing his arm. 




JANE SHORE DOING PENAN! B 



JANE SHORE. 125 

Now this was not true, because his arm 
was withered when he was born; but 
besides that, there never was such a thing 
as a witch, for the stories of witches are all 
lies invented by the wicked to deceive 
the foolish. 

But Richard did not care about that ; 
he accused her, and she was condemned — 
and her sentence was, that she should do 
penance ; that is, stand at the church door 
in a white sheet, with a candle in her hand, 
confessing her fault, and all the people 
who came to church were allowed to mock 
and insult her; but she had been so 
charitable, that the people pitied her and 
did not insult her. 

Then Richard ordered, that when her 



126 JANE SHORE. 

penance was over, no one should give her 
shelter in their houses, nor any clothes 
to cover her — nor bread to eat, nor even 
water to drink; but that she should be 
forced to wander about the streets, cold, 
and hungry, and miserable, until at last she 
should be tired and starved to death. 

The people were very much grieved to 
hear this order; but as Richard threat- 
ened to put any one to death who should 
disobey it, they were afraid to disobey. 

So poor Jane Shore wandered about 
the streets, wrapped up in this white 
sheet ; and when she grew weary and cold 
she begged for shelter, but no one dared 
open his house to her — and when she was 
hungry she begged for a bit of bread, but 



JANE SHORE. 127 

no one dared give it to her — and when she 
was dying of thirst, and begged a little 
drink, no one dared to give her even a 
drop of water. Then it was that she lay 
down in the very kennel of the street ; and 
oh ! she who had once been dressed in silks 
and satins, and had eaten the richest feasts 
at a king's table, would have given the 
world for a little bit of mouldy bread and 
a drop of muddy water. 

There she lay dying : not weeping and 
lamenting, but praying to God to forgive 
her all the sins she had committed ; and at 
the end of three long days and three long 
nights, the poor creature was quite worn out, 
and she laid her cheek on the cold stones, 
and she shut her hollow eyes, and died. 



XVIII. 



THE MURDER IN THE TOWER. 



Richard III. born 1450.— Died 1485— Reigned 2 years. 



l^^^uC SHALL now continue the story 
\ of little King Edward and his 

^pU brother, who were cruelly put to 
death by their wicked uncle, the same 
Crookback Richard, who, as I before 
told you, murdered his brother, and put 
Lord Hastings and Jane Shore to death. 

The little King's name was Edward, as 
you know; but his little brother's name 
was Richard, the same name as his cruel 
uncle. 



THE MURDER IN THE TOWER. 129 

As little Edward and little Richard 
were so very young, the King their father, 
when he was dying, gave them to the care 
of their uncle, Crookback Richard, who 
promised to take care of the little boys, 
and to love and protect them as long as 
they should be little and weak, and to be 
dutiful and obedient to them when they 
should grow to be men ; but he intended 
no such thing, for he meant to get them 
out of the way by killing them, in order to 
be king himself. 

So Crookback Richard pretended to 
be very fond of them, and seemed to do 
every thing that a good uncle ought to do ; 
but this was all pretence, that he might get 
them into his power, and out of the reach 



130 THE MURDER IN THE TOWER. 

of their mother and all her friends, who 
would watch carefully over them. 

The first thing he did was to pretend 
that it was not safe for these little boys to 
live in the palace where their father had 
lived, and he therefore took them to the 
Tower, which is that great old castle at the 
other end of London, where the wild beasts 
are now kept ; but there is no beast in the 
Tower so cruel as Richard was. 

When you are a little older, I shall 
take you to see the Tower and the wild 
beasts, and shall show you the very place 
in which the poor little princes were kept. 

The little princes did not much mind 
going to the Tower, for they were too 
young to guess their uncle's wickedness ; 



THE MURDER IN THE TOWER. 131 

and indeed the Tower seemed to them as 
good as any other home, because they were 
told that their dear mother and their grand- 
mother were to go with them. 

You know that you yourself would go 
any where with your own dear mamma, and 
would rather live with her in a little dark 
room with iron bars to the windows and 
a stone floor, than in a room with large 
windows, and warm carpets, and soft sofas, 
without your mamma. Well, so did these 
dear little princes. 

But after they had been there for a 
short time, Crookback Richard got im- 
patient of having their mother there, and 
he cruelly sent her away from her little 

boys. Oh ! you may think how the poor 

i 2 



132 THE MURDER IN THE TOWER. 

mother cried, and how the poor little boys 
cried, at parting ; every body cried ; even 
the very soldiers who came by Richard's 
order to take their mother away, cried ; 
and Crookback Richard himself pre- 
tended to cry ; but in reality he was ex- 
ceedingly glad that their mother was gone. 

When he thus had the poor little boys 
quite in his own power, his first attempt 
was to bribe the keeper of the Tower to 
murder the little boys ; but the keeper was 
too honest, and he refused. Then Richard 
turned him off from being keeper of the 
Tower, and appointed another keeper, a 
villain who was ready enough to do the 
bloody job. 

So this new keeper hired three ruffians, 



THE MURDER IN THE TOWER. 133 

— (just such men as Hubert hired to kill 
poor Arthur, as I told you before), — three 
ruffians to come and murder these poor little 
innocents; and it was settled that this 
shocking murder was to be committed on a 
certain night while the little princes were 
asleep in bed. 

So that night, after the poor little boys 
had said their prayers, and kissed one ano- 
ther, and wished that they could have 
kissed their poor mother, who was far away, 
they went to bed, and very soon fell asleep 
in one another's arms — for they were so 
good that they never forgot their dear 
mother, and they said their prayers to 
God every morning and every night ; 
and when they went to sleep they folded 



134 THE MURDER IN THE TOWER. 

their little arms lovingly about each 
other. 

While they were lying there fast asleep, 
the ruffians came in to murder them ; but 
they were not agreed how to do it ; at first 
they intended to stab the princes, but then 
they were afraid the blood would be seen, 
and so at last they resolved to smother 
them, which would not spill any blood, 
and would prevent their making any noise ; 
and so the ruffians took up the pillows and 
forced them down over the faces of the 
little princes, who, in spite of all the efforts 
they could make with their little strength, 
were smothered, and died. 

When they were dead, the ruffians took 
off the pillows, and then they saw the two 



THE MURDER IN THE TOWER. 135 

little faces lying close together, and their 
arms round each other, as if they had just 
kissed each other as they were dying. 

Then the ruffians took the dead bodies 
and carried them down the dark narrow 
stone stairs, and dug a hole at the bot- 
tom of the stairs, and threw the bodies 
into the hole, and covered them up with 
clay, and no one knew what had become 
of them. 

Every one knew, indeed, that their 
cruel uncle had hired ruffians to murder 
them, but nobody ever knew where they 
had been buried until many years after- 
wards, when the bones of two little boys 
were found by accident in digging a hole 
at the foot of the dark stone stairs, and 



136 THE MURDER IN THE TOWER. 

then these bones were known to be the 
bones of the poor little princes. 

When we go to the Tower I shall 
show you the place where these bones 
were found. 




XIX. 
PERKIN WARBECX. 

Henry VII. born 1457.— Died 1509.— Reigned 23 years. 




BtlW HAVE told you how 
b^, the two little Princes were mur- 
<^m^ dered in the Tower by their uncle 
Richard. Richard himself was 
killed in battle, and another King, 
called Henry the Seventh, made himself 
King in his stead. 

This King Henry the Seventh, was 
very oppressive to the people, and the peo- 
ple all lamented the loss of the two little 
Princes, who were the rightful heirs to the 
throne. 



138 PERKIN WARBECK. 

This love of the little Princes and hatred 
of the King, induced a young man, of the 
name of Perkin Warbeck, to pretend to 
be the Duke of York, the younger of the 
two Princes, who had escaped, as he said, 
by accident from the cruelty of his uncle, 
and now came to claim the crown. 

This Perkin Warbeck was not really 
the Duke of York, nor any relation of the 
royal family, but the son of a poor Jew in 
Flanders ; but, what was very extra- 
ordinary, he happened to have a great 
likeness both to the little Prince whom he 
pretended to be, and to King Edward, his 
pretended father. 

He also took great pains to find out 
many secrets and stories relating to the 



PERKIN WARBECK. 139 

Duke of York and his brother, the little 
King ; so much so, that when he was ques- 
tioned, he was able to give such answers as 
the Duke of York himself would probably 
have given. 

This great likeness to the little duke 
and this knowledge of many things that it 
was supposed the duke alone could have 
known, convinced every body that this was 
the real Duke of York ; and it is very 
wonderful, that the relations and friends of 
the royal family who examined Perkin 
were as much deceived as the rest ; and all 
declared that there was no doubt but that 
he was the real Plantagenet :— Planta- 
genet was the name of the royal family. 

Perkin now called himself King of 



140 PERKIN WARBECK. 

England, by the name of King Richard 
the Fourth ; and a great number of lords 
and gentlemen offered to join him, and 
fight in his cause, believing him to be 
the real prince. 

The King of Scotland, too, was de- 
ceived by Perkin ; and when he went 
into that country, the king married him 
to a beautiful and noble young lady, a 
cousin of his own. 

All this wonderful success made Per- 
kin very vain and proud, and he almost 
began to think himself king in good 
earnest ; and at last he ventured to land 
in England, and to raise an army to fight 
King Henry the Seventh ; but this soon 
put an end to his strange adventures ; for 



PERKIN WARBECK. 141 

Henry had no sooner put his army into 
motion to march against him, than Perkin 
took to flight, dismissed his army, and tried 
to hide himself; but he was soon discovered 
and taken prisoner. 

Henry the Seventh might have put 
Perkin to death, but he did not, and only 
imprisoned him in the Tower of London — 
the very place in which the real Duke of 
York had been murdered. 

But in order to make Perkin ridiculous 
and contemptible in the eyes of all the 
people, the King obliged him to confess 
what he really was, and this confession 
was printed and given to all the people 
to read, and then Perkin was put on 
horseback, and conducted through the 



142 PERKIN WARBECK. 

streets of London in a kind of mock 
procession. 

He was next placed, like a rogue or 
vagabond, in the stocks ; and the people, 
who were at first so fond of Perkin, now 
became so violent against him, that they 
insulted the poor wretch as he sat in the 
stocks, and treated him with every kind of 
violence and hatred. Such is the fickleness 
of the common people. 

But Perkin, though mercifully treated 
by the King, and only confined to the 
Tower, was of so restless a temper that 
he could not remain quiet ; so he began 
new plots and schemes to escape from 
the Tower, and to proclaim himself king 
again. 







L'KRKIN WARBECK ENTERING LONDON. 



PERKIN WARBECK. 143 

This at last obliged King Henry the 
Seventh to punish Perkin severely, and 
so he ordered him to be tried for his life ; 
and as his crimes were confessed even by 
himself, he was immediately condemned : 
and this very Perkin — who had been ac- 
knowledged as Duke of York — who had 
married the cousin of the King of Scot- 
land — and who had been received as King 
of England by a great part of the nation 
— was drawn on a miserable hurdle to 
Hyde Park Corner, which was then called 
Tyburn, and there put to death by the 
hands of the common hangman. 

So surprising was Perkin' s resemblance 
to the Duke of York, that to this very day 
some people believe that he was the true 



144 PERKIN WARBECK. 

Plantagenet ; but Perkin himself at 
last confessed that he was not ; and I be- 
lieve that the real Duke of York was mur- 
dered in the Tower, because his bones 
were found near those of his brother, the 
little King, as I told you in the former 
story. 




XX. 

KING HENRY AND HIS SIX 
WIVES. 

Henry VIII. born 1492. — Died 1547. — Reigned 37 years. 



»^toH- 



&*&&!> 



•j 




mM^%> ENRY the EIGHTH 
was the most cruel tyrant that 
ever sat on the throne of Eng- 
land. He was worse, I think, 
than either John or Crookback 
Richard — they murdered their nephews 
to become kings themselves, but Henry 
put to death, out of mere wantonness and 
wickedness, his servants, his friends, and 
even his wives. 



146 KING HENRY AND HIS SIX WIVES. 

Shall I tell you the story of this monster 
and his six wives ? 

His first wife was a Princess of Spain, 
called Catharine ; she was a good wife, 
and a good queen ; and a good mother too, 
for she had one little daughter, whose name 
was Mary, of whom she was very fond. 

But Henry soon grew tired of Queen 
Catharine ; and, by some wicked pretences 
and lies, procured his marriage with her to 
be broken ; and he turned her and her little 
daughter out of his palace, and a law was 
passed that Catharine was not the King's 
wife, nor little Mary the Kings daughter. 

In those days the people were so base 
and wicked that they made whatever laws 
the King pleased, however foolish or unjust ; 



KING HENRY AND HIS SIX WIVES. 147 

and surely such a law as this was as foolish 
and unjust as could be. 

His second wife was a young lady of 
the name of Anne Boleyn — she was a 
beautiful and virtuous young creature; 
and happy it would have been for her if 
this cruel tyrant had never seen her — for 
he fell in love with her ; and it is supposed 
his wish to marry her was the chief reason 
for his breaking his marriage with poor Ca- 
tharine ; for as soon as that marriage was 
broken, Henry married Anne Boleyn. 

In about a year after they were mar- 
ried, Anne had a little daughter, named 
Elizabeth, who afterwards was a famous 
queen, and of whom I shall tell you a story 
by-and-by. 

j 2 



148 KING HENRY AND HIS SIX WIVES. 

But Henry soon got tired of Anne 
as he had done of Catharine, and fell in 
love with another lady ; so he resolved to 
put poor Anne to death : she was brought 
out on a scaffold, where a block was placed 
on which she was to lay her head, and an 
executioner stood by with a sharp axe to 
cut it off. 

This poor young creature was too good 
to be afraid of death ; and when she came 
on the scaffold she smiled on the execu- 
tioner, and said, 'that he would not have 
much trouble ; for,' said she (putting her 
hands round her beautiful neck), ' my poor 
neck is very slender:' then she laid her 
head on the block, and the executioner 
with his axe struck it off with one blow. 



KING HENRY AND HIS SIX WIVES. 149 

When you go to the Tower you will see 
the very, very axe, which is still kept there. 

The next day after the death of poor 
Anne, the hard-hearted Henry married a 
third wife, who was called Jane Seymour 
— he probably would have put her to death 
too ; but it happened that she died when 
they had been married about a year : she 
left a baby, who was afterwards King 
Edward the Sixth. 

His fourth wife was a German Princess, 
called Anne of Cleves ; but Anne of 
Cleves was neither handsome nor clever, 
and Henry broke his marriage with her 
very soon ; but as she was a princess, and 
as her brothers and friends were very 
powerful, he did not venture to put her 



150 KING HENRY AND HIS SIX WIVES. 

to death as he had done poor Anne 
Boleyn. 

His fifth wife was an English lady, called 
Catharine Howard. One is surprised 
how he could persuade any one to marry 
him, considering the danger in which the 
wife of such a monster was placed ; but so 
violent a tyrant was he, that to refuse him 
was more dangerous even than consenting. 
So Catharine Howard married him ; but 
they were married only a few months when 
Henry ordered her also to be put to death 
— and she was beheaded accordingly. 

At last, however, he maried a wife who 
outlived him : her name was Catharine 
Parr. She too was often in great danger 
from the fury of this tyrant, and once he 



KING HENRY AND HIS SIX WIVES. 151 

had actually signed an order for her being 
sent to prison, which would probably have 
been soon followed by her death ; but she 
contrived by coaxing and flattering Henry, 
to escape for that time, and very soon after 
the monster himself fell sick and died. 

The night before Henry died, he had 
ordered the Duke of Norfolk, one of the 
greatest men in the kingdom, to be put to 
death, and he was to be executed next 
morning; but that very night the King 
himself died ; and when the morning came, 
the officers, hearing of the King's death, 
were very glad to refuse to execute his 
unjust orders against the Duke of Nor- 
folk ; so he escaped. 

Remember the names of Henry's 



152 KING HENRY AND HIS SIX WIVES. 

wives ; there were three Catharines, two 
Annes, and one Jane — two he turned off, 
two he beheaded, one died in her bed, and 
one outlived him. 

Now I am sure you agree with me, that 
this Henry was the most cruel tyrant you 
ever have heard of. 




XXI. 



JANE GREY. 



Edward VI. born 1538. — Died 1553. — Reigned 6 years. 




ENRY the EIGHTH left 

at his death one son and two 

daughters. The son became 

^Sp J King at his father s death, and 

the daughters, Mary and Eliza- 



? 



beth, were queens in their turn ; 
though an attempt was made to set aside 
these two Princesses, as I shall tell you. 

Edward, who was very young, had a 
minister called the Duke of Northum- 
berland, who governed the kingdom in 



154 JANE GREY. 

the King's name; but Northumberland 
was cruel and proud, and thought more of 
himself and his own family than of the 
good of the King or kingdom. 

It happened that the young king had a 
cousin, called Lady Jane Grey, who was 
one of the most beautiful as well as the 
most virtuous and learned young ladies in 
England. 

This beautiful young lady Northum- 
berland resolved to marry to one of his 
own sons ; and when he had done this, he 
secretly persuaded the King to sign a paper 
to declare, that after his own death Lady 
Jane should be queen instead of his own 
sisters Mary and Elizabeth. 

This was very wicked in Northumber- 



JANE GREY. 155 

land to ask, and very foolish in the King 
to grant, because Lady Jane, good and 
lovely as she was, had no right whatsoever 
to the crown ; and you shall hear how 
poor Lady Jane herself suffered from this 
unhappy favour. 

The young King had hardly written this 
paper when he died, being only sixteen 
years old. — Upon his death, Northumber- 
land and some other lords proclaimed 
Lady Jane Grey to be queen, and went to 
visit her, to acquaint her that she was 
Queen of England. 

Nothing could equal Jane's surprise 
and sorrow at this news, for she was too 
good and too religious to wish to be queen 
when she knew she had no right to be so ; 



156 JANE GREY. 

and she entreated and prayed that they 
would not force her to accept the crown, 
but would permit her to remain in the 
happy private station in which she was 
born. 

But Northumberland, who wished to 
have all the power in his own hands, which 
he thought he should have if she was 
queen, being the wife of his son, would not 
consent to this, and he obliged her to ac- 
cept the crown, which she did with tears 
and grief, for she foresaw how dangerous it 
was to do so. 

She accepted the crown then, but she 
wore it only ten days ; for all the lords and 
people, though they loved Lady Jane for 
her goodness, did not choose to have her 



JANE GREY, 157 

for their queen, because she had no right: 
so they proclaimed Mary, the elder of 
King Edward's two sisters, Queen. Nor- 
thumberland was put to death ; and Jane 
and her husband, who was not older than 
herself, were confined in the Tower : but 
as they had neither of them consented wil- 
lingly to Northumberland's plot, it was 
hoped that their youth and their innocence 
would save them from any greater punish- 
ment. 

But they had not been above six months 
in prison, when Queen Mary's tyranny 
caused a rebellion in England; and though 
the rebels were soon conquered and de- 
stroyed, Mary, who was of a cruel, suspi- 
cious temper, thought that she was not safe 



158 JANE GREY. 

on the throne as long as Lady Jane was 
alive ; so she resolved to put her and her 
husband to death. 

Jane, and her husband, whose name 
was Lord Guilford Dudley, were both 
very young, very handsome, and very good, 
and they were quite innocent of the crime 
for which Mary resolved to put them to 
death ; so that you may think that every- 
body loved and pitied them, and hated the 
Queen for her cruelty to them. 

They were beheaded on the same day 
— Lord Guilford Dudley died first, and 
died with the courage of a noble and inno- 
cent young man. Jane saw his headless 
body brought back in a cart ; and instead 
of being frightened and dismayed at that 



JANE GREY. 159 

dreadful sight, she gained courage from the 
courage which her husband had shown; 
for she loved him tenderly, and now re- 
solved to imitate his example : so, with an 
untroubled countenance, she laid her neck 
upon the block, and the executioner with 
his axe severed her head from the body. 




XXII. 
BLOODY MARY. 

Mary, born 1516. — Died 1558. — Reigned 5 years. 




ARY, the same who 
put Lady Jane Grey to death, 

was the eldest daughter of Kins; 

ASsv) Henry the Eighth, and she was 

y) as wicked a monster as her father. 



°^ She was ugly, ill-tempered, and 
cruel, and she well deserves the name of 
Bloody Mary, as you shall hear. 

Mary was what is called a Papist, and 
thought herself very religious; but hers 
was not a mild, virtuous, Christian religion, 



BLOODY MARY. 161 

such as is taught you in your prayers and 
in the Bible, and which makes us kind to 
one another, and obedient to God — but a 
kind of bloody madness which she called 
religion, and which drove her to commit 
more cruelty and murder than her father 
or even Crookback Richard had ever 
been guilty of, for whoever would not agree 
in her opinions, she ordered to be tied to a 
stake, and burned to death. 

You are greatly shocked to hear of a 
Queen ordering people to be burned to 
death; but it is very true, and the most 
shocking part of the story is, that those she 
burned were the best and most virtuous 
men in the whole nation. 

There were burned five of the bishops, 



162 BLOODY MARY. 

twenty of the clergymen, hundreds of other 
people, and even some little children like 
yourself; and all these died with great 
courage, some repeating psalms, some say- 
ing their prayers, and all praising God in 
the midst of the flames; and those who 
died in this courageous manner for the sake 
of their religion are called Martyrs. 

But of all the Martyrs, two bishops, 
whose names were Ridley and Latimer, 
and an archbishop, called Cranmer, were 
the most lamented for their goodness, piety, 
courage, and sufferings. 

Ridley and Latimer were burned at 
the same time ; they were tied to two 
stakes opposite to one another, and fagots 
were heaped up about them, and the exe- 



P\ v" " . 




BURNING OF RIDLEY AND LATIMER. 



164 BLOODY MARY. 

This so enraged Bloody Mary, that she 
ordered him to be immediately brought 
forth and burned to death. When he came 
forth to die, he showed a calm and courage- 
ous countenance, not at all afraid of the 
torture ; and when the fire was lighted, he 
of himself held out his right hand which 
had signed his name to the wicked paper, 
and thrust it into the flames, and bravely 
held it there till it was burned off, crying 
out all the while, with a loud voice, " This 
hand has offended ! " 

After his hand was burned off, the exe- 
cutioners heaped the blazing fagots up 
about the poor old man's body, and he very 
soon after died, praying and praising God 
in the midst of the flames. 



BLOODY MARY. 165 

The cruel Mary died soon after of a 
broken heart : but the people of England 
were so surprised and convinced by the 
courage and constancy of these noble mar- 
tyrs, that they all left Mary's cruel Papist 
religion, and became of the Protestant reli- 
gion, that of the martyrs ; and the Protes- 
tant Religion is, to this day, the religion of 
the people of England : it is the religion 
of your papa and mamma, and that which 
you are taught yourself; and which if you 
follow and obey, every one will love you in 
this world, and God will bless you in the 
next. 



XXIII. 



THE KING. 



Elizabeth, born 1534.— Died 1603. — Reigned 44 years. 



A M now going to tell you a story 
about Queen Elizabeth, who 
was one of the greatest and wisest 
sovereigns England ever had ; 
and when she first became queen, 
she was young, handsome, and 
agreeable; but in her old age, 
she became ugly and cross and cruel. 

In these latter times, amongst the young 
noblemen of her court, she particularly no- 
ticed the Earl of Essex, and he soon be- 




THE RING. 167 

came her chief favourite ; for he was not 
only young and handsome, but very clever 
and agreeable. 

But Lord Essex was so spoiled by his 
good fortune and the Queen's favour, that 
he became proud and haughty, and even 
treated the Queen herself with so much in- 
solence, that several serious quarrels arose 
between them. 

After a great many follies and faults on 
the part of Lord Essex, and a great deal of 
forgiveness on that of the Queen, this 
foolish young man at last proceeded to 
such violence, that he actually raised a riot 
against the Queen, in which several men 
were killed. 

This was an insolence and wickedness 



168 THE RING. 

too great to be borne ; and the Queen, well 
as she loved Lord Essex, was obliged to 
order him to be tried — and he was tried 
accordingly, and found guilty, and con- 
demned to lose his head. 

But it is thought that even yet the 
Queen would have forgiven him, but for 
a strange accident which I shall now 
tell you. 

It happened that, in former times, when 
the Queen and Lord Essex were good 
friends, she had given him a beautiful ring, 
which she told him to keep carefully, and 
that whatever might afterwards happen, or 
whatever fault he might commit, if he 
sent this ring back to her, she would 
forgive him. 



THE RING. 169 

Now when Lord Essex was condemned 
to death, the Queen, as you may well sup- 
pose, expected to receive this ring ; and she 
put off from day to day the last order for 
his execution, still expecting the ring, but 
the ring never came. 

Then the Queen's patience was tired 
out ; and thinking that Lord Essex did not 
in the least repent of his conduct towards 
her, and that he chose rather to die than 
ask her pardon, her pride got the better of 
her love for the poor Earl, and she gave 
orders that he should be beheaded, and he 
was beheaded accordingly. 

Now it had happened that Lord Essex, 
soon after his trial, finding that he was in 
great danger, had thought of his ring, and 



170 THE RING. 

resolved to send it to the Queen to move 
her pity, and for this purpose he begged 
the Countess of Nottingham, who was a 
relation of his, to take the precious ring, 
and to give it into the Queen's own 
hands. 

Lady Nottingham told this to her 
husband, who being a great enemy to Lord 
Essex, would not permit her to give the 
ring to the Queen, nor to return it to Lord 
Essex; so that the Queen never got the 
ring, and poor Lord Essex was executed; 
the Queen thinking him proud and ob- 
stinate, and he thinking the Queen false 
and cruel. 

Some time after, however, Lady Not- 
tingham being taken ill, and near dying, 



THE RING. 171 

she remembered her wicked and deceitful 
conduct towards Lord Essex; and this 
made her so unhappy, that she could not 
rest till she had sent to the Queen to say, 
that she had something of the greatest im- 
portance to tell her before she died. 

So the Queen came to her, and every 
body else being sent out of the room, Lady 
Nottingham gave her the unfortunate 
ring, beseeching the Queen to forgive her 
for not having given it sooner, as her hus- 
band had prevented her. But Elizabeth, 
shocked and enraged in the highest degree, 
exclaimed, "God may forgive you, but I 
never can." 

The Queen was so much grieved at 
this discovery, that she never after reco- 



172 THE RING. 

vered herself ; and she died at last in the 
utmost sorrow at the thoughts of having 
too hastily and cruelly consented to the 
death of her unhappy favourite. 



*g fl*zA*fl*&u&J^^ 




XXIV. 
THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 

James I. born 1567. — Died 1625. — Reigned 22 years. 
— »°^ 

^f" URING the reign of 
King James I. the Papists — 
those who were of Bloody Mary's 
religion — were greatly enraged to 
find that the King, and the Parlia- 
ment, and the People were all become 
Protestants ; and they resolved to make 
a desperate attempt to put the King, the 
Parliament, and the other chief Pro- 
testants to death, in order that the 
Papists should have the rule and govern- 




174 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 

merit of England, and should be able to 
bring in their religion again all through 
the country. 

Many plans and plots were devised 
for this purpose, but none seemed great 
enough to destroy the whole Protestant 
party at once, which was what the Papists 
wished to do. 

At last, after many debates, it was 
resolved to attempt to blow up the Par- 
liament-House with gunpowder, on the 
first day of the Parliament, when the 
King and Queen, and all the royal family, 
and all the Lords and Gentlemen of the 
House of Commons were to be present; 
by which they would at one blow destroy 
the whole Protestant government. 



THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 175 

So these wicked traitors hired a house 
next the Parliament-House, and they 
set about digging a hole under the wall of 
the Parliament-House, in order secretly 
to place gunpowder under the house to 
blow it up. 

For many days they went on working 
at this hole, and when they had made their 
way almost under the Parliament-House, 
they found, to their great surprise, that 
there were vaults made there already, and 
that if they broke through the wall they 
would be discovered by the persons who 
hired the vaults. — These persons were 
coal-merchants who had coals in these 
vaults. 

On this discovery, they found that their 



176 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 

first plan would not do ; so they resolved 
to hire the vaults themselves, and under 
pretence of keeping coals, fagots, and fire- 
wood there, to place barrels of gunpowder 
ready to blow up the house above. 

You may remember that I once took 
you to the Parliament-House, and 
showed you some of these vaults, which 
looked so dark and frightful. 

Well, the traitors filled these very 
vaults with barrels of gunpowder, and a 
man of the name of Guy Fawkes was 
the person appointed to set fire to the 
train, and every thing was ready. But an 
event which I am going to tell you defeated 
all their wicked scheme. 

It happened that there was a Lord 



THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 177 

Mounteagle, who had a friend among 
the Papists; and this friend, to prevent 
Lord Mounteagle being destroyed, wrote 
him a letter to advise him not to go to 
the Parliament. 

This letter was written in very dark 
language, almost like a riddle ; it talked of 
a sudden blow, and that no one should see 
the hand that gave it ; and as there was no 
name signed to the letter, and as it told no 
particulars, this lord could not tell what to 
make of it ; but he thought it best, at all 
events, to show it to the King and the 
council. 

The council all thought that it was a 
foolish letter, without any other meaning 
than to frighten this lord ; but King James 



178 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 

suspected that there was some mischief at 
bottom, and when he considered that the 
blow was to be sudden and unseen, he 
immediately thought that some explosion 
or blowing up by gunpowder must be 
meant; so a search was immediately 
ordered in the vaults under the Parlia- 
ment-House. 

This search was made on the 4th of 
November, the very day before the Parlia- 
ment was to meet ; and when the officers 
went to make the search, they found Guy 
Fawkes, with a lantern in his hand, stand- 
ing in a secret corner, after having laid all 
the trains of gunpowder, and prepared 
every thing for the execution of the plot 
next day. 




■^-"J^tGuYJT 



GUY FAWKES IN THE CELLAR. 



THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 179 

So they immediately seized him, and 
they found in his pockets matches, and 
flints for striking fire, and on a further 
search they found a great many barrels of 
gunpowder all hidden under the coals and 
fagots. 

Guy Fawkes, when he found he had 
no chance of escaping, told the whole story, 
and the names of all the other Papists 
who were joined in the plot, and they were 
all soon after put to death for this most 
horrible design. 

If the plot had succeeded, and fire had 
been set to the gunpowder, not only all 
those that were in the Parliament- 
House, but all the neighbourhood, would 
have been destroyed; they would have 

l2 



180 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 

been blown into the air, and their bodies 
would have been torn into a hundred 
pieces, and scattered far and wide with the 
ruins of the houses. 

Guy Fawkes himself intended to have 
stood a great way off and set fire to a long 
train, which would have burned some 
minutes before it reached the gunpowder, 
and in these minutes he would have run 
away and escaped. 

Even to this time, on every Fifth of 
November, — the day on which the plot 
was to have been executed, — you see the 
little boys carry a figure about the streets, 
which they call Guy Fawkes, and which, 
after parading it about, they hang, as Guy 
Fawkes himself was hanged ; and Prayers 



THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 



181 



are said in all the Churches, to thank God 
for having saved the kingdom and the 
Protestant religion from this dreadful 
danger. 




XXV. 



KING CHARLES'S MARTYRDOM. 



Charles I. born 1600.— Died 1649.— Reigned 23 years. 




~s$^$/^m 



ING CHARLES the FIRST 

was an excellent man and a 
good King — he was a tender 
e ' husband, a loving father, a kind 

master, and a true friend; but he had 
the misfortune to live in bad times, and 
to have wicked and rebellious subjects. 
These wicked men rose in rebellion 
against this good King, who had no fault 
but his willingness to punish these 
wretches; and after a great many battles, 



king Charles's martyrdom. 183 

they at last succeeded in taking the King 
prisoner. 

In prison they treated him with the 
greatest insolence and brutality ; and at 
last they resolved to try him for his life, in 
a Court of their own making, as if the 
poor King had done any thing for which 
he deserved to be tried, and (even if he had) 
these wretches had any right to try him. 

So they assembled a kind of Court in 
Westminster Hall, you know Westminster 
Hall, that great room with the curious 
wooden roof which I once showed you ? 

Well, in this room they assembled 
their Court, which consisted of rebels and 
madmen, fools and knaves, and they pro- 
ceeded to try their King ; but they had 



184 king Charles's martyrdom. 

nothing to prove against him, and his in- 
nocence was so clear that they would not 
let him speak, but they condemned him to 
be beheaded — contrary to all law and 
justice, and to the surprise and horror of 
all good and honest men. 

The rebel soldiers who guarded the 
innocent King treated him with the greatest 
brutality, but he never appeared angry, 
and bore all their insults with the mildness 
of an angel, and he even prayed to God to 
forgive them their wickedness. 

As he was returning from the pre- 
tended Court where he was condemned, 
one of those wretches dared to spit in his 
face. The King showed no anger at thi s 
shocking insult, but said — " Poor soul ! — 



king Charles's martyrdom. 185 

he would do the same to one of his own 
officers for a piece of money !" — and when 
he heard some of the common people cry 
out against him, he said — " God forgive 
them, they know not what they do !" Such 
were the meekness and piety of this ex- 
cellent King. 

But the rebels who had condemned 
him were resolved to execute him — so they 
ordered a great scaffold of wood to be 
raised in Whitehall, just opposite the centre 
window of the building which is now called 
Whitehall Chapel, and all the night 
long, as the poor King lay in bed, he heard 
the noise of the hammers of the workmen 
who were building the scaffold on which 
he was to die. 



186 king Charles's martyrdom. 

King Charles had three sons and a 
daughter — his two eldest sons had escaped 
from the rebels, but his youngest son, a 
little boy not older than you, and his 
daughter, were confined with him. So 
before he was executed, he took these two 
children on his knees, and kissed them a 
thousand times over, and gave them all the 
kind and good advice possible ; and he said 
to the little boy — " They are going to cut 
off your poor father s head !" At these 
words the child looked steadfastly on him : 
— " Mark, dear child, what I say — they 
will cut off my head, and perhaps make 
you a king; but mark what I say — you 
must not be made king by them as long as 
your brothers Charles and James are 



king Charles's martyrdom. 187 

alive ; they will cut off your brothers 9 
heads when they can catch them ; thy 
head, too, they will cut off at last ! there- 
fore, I charge thee, do not be made a king 
by them !" 

To which the courageous little boy 
answered — " No, I will not ; I will be torn 
in pieces first !" 

This brave answer from so little a boy 
filled the King's eyes with tears of joy : 
then the King embraced him again and 
again, and his little sister, and parted 
from them in great affliction for them; 
for as to himself, he was too good and 
too pious to be afraid of his enemies or of 
death. 

When the time came he walked out of 



188 king Charles's martyrdom. 

the centre window I told you of, on the 
scaffold, which was built as high as the 
window, and which was covered with black 
cloth — on the scaffold was placed a block, 
and by the block stood two executioners 
with axes in their hands and masks on 
their faces, that they who did this bloody 
deed might not be known. 

Then the King came forward with a 
steady step and mild countenance, and 
after having said a prayer, he laid his head 
meekly on the block, and giving the signal 
that he was ready to die, one of the exe- 
cutioners struck off his head at a blow, 
and the other, when it had fallen on the 
scaffold, held up the bleeding head by the 
hair, and showed it to the people, who all 




CROMWELL TURNING OUT THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. 






king Charles's martyrdom. 189 

wept and lamented at that miserable 
sight. 

Almost all the people loved the King ; 
but the rebels, though fewer in number 
than the good people, were soldiers, and 
had arms in their hands, and their general, 
Oliver Cromwell, usurped the power 
of a king, and forced the rest of the 
people to submit to his and their cruel 
tyranny. 

So this tyranny of the soldiers lasted a 
great many years ; but at length Oliver 
died, and the people took courage, and 
would bear the oppression no longer ; and 
General Monk, who succeeded Oliver 
Cromwell in the command of the army, 
finding the disposition of the people, re- 



190 king Charles's martyrdom. 

called the King's eldest son, who was called 
Charles the Second : he became King 
of England, and sat on the throne of his 
poor father. 




XXVI. 
THE EOYAL OAK. 

Charles II. born 1627.— Died 1658.— Reigned 36 years. 




^^)#9 EF0RE Charles the Se- 
cond became king, he fought 
several battles with the rebels who 
W had put his father to death ; but the 
rebels were generally the stronger party. 

After one of these battles, young 
Charles's army was utterly beaten, and 
he was himself obliged to fly. 

But even by flying he could scarcely 
save himself from the rebels, who were in 
great numbers, and who wandered over all 



192 THE ROYAL OAK. 

the fields and roads searching for him. 
So poor Charles wandered alone in the 
woods for several days, hiding himself in 
the bushes and briers to escape the rebels, 
and having nothing to eat but wild peas 
and berries, which he gathered in the fields 
and hedges. 

But at last one day he saw two rebel 
horsemen or troopers advancing towards 
him, and as they were coming from oppo- 
site sides he had no way left of escaping. 

So he stood sadly frightened at the foot 
of a great oak tree, towards which the 
rebels seemed to be coming; when sud- 
denly the thought struck him of climbing 
up into the oak, and hiding himself in the 
branches and leaves. 




CHARr.K- II. IN THE OAK 



THE ROYAL OAK. 193 

He lost not a moment in climbing into 
the oak, and as it was now summer, and 
that all the leaves were out, and that the 
oak was very large and full of thick 
branches, he lay there quite unseen and 
secure. 

He had scarcely gotten to his hiding- 
place on the boughs of the oak, when the 
rebel troopers came up to the foot of the 
tree, and Charles heard them make in- 
quiries from one another about him, and 
explain to one another which way they 
supposed he had escaped; they little 
thought that they were all the while so 
near him. 

After some talk, and after searching 
all about the neighbouring wood, the 



194 THE ROYAL OAK. 

troopers rode away, to the great joy of 
Charles, who was half dead with fatigue, 
hunger, and fright. 

But when he came down from his tree 
(which was ever after called the Royal 
Oak), he was as badly off as ever, for he 
did not know where to find food or shelter, 
and he was afraid to go and look for them, 
lest he should fall into the hands of the 
rebels. 

But it happened that there were five 
brothers, whose names were Penderell, 
who lived in that part of the country, in 
an old house called Boscobel, and who had 
always been loyal, and loved the King and 
hated the rebels. Now one of these bro- 
thers chanced to meet Charles, who told 



THE ROYAL OAK. 195 

him who he was, and then Penderell 
knelt down and kissed his hand, and pro- 
mised to risk his life to save him. 

So he took him to Boscobel, and all the 
brothers were at once glad and frightened 
to see Charles — glad that he was safe, 
and frightened lest he should be taken 
prisoner ; for the troopers were all about 
the neighbourhood still in search of him. 

So they could think of nothing better 
than disguising the King like a poor labour- 
ing man, and they made him work at cut- 
ting fagots in the wood, till the search was 
a little less strict. Then they dressed him 
like a servant, and he rode to attend a lady 
who pretended she wanted to go to the 
sea-coast. 

M 2 



196 THE ROYAL OAK. 

And after a great deal of fatigue and 
many narrow escapes, Charles, at last, by 
the means of these worthy Penderells, 
and some other good friends, contrived to 
reach the sea-shore, where he soon found 
a small vessel, and sailed over to France, 
where he remained in safety for several 
years, till the people, weary of the tyranny 
of the soldiers, entreated that Charles 
would return to them, which he did, to 
the great joy of the whole nation. 




XXVII. 
THE ESCAPE. 

James II. born 1633. — Died 1700. — Reigned 4 years. 




ING JAMES the SECOND 

was a Papist and a bad King, 
f^3, and the people rose up against 
him, and he was obliged to fly- 
to save his life. 

But before he fled himself, he resolved 
to provide for the escape of the Queen his 
wife, and of his little son. 

This Queen was an Italian princess, 
and the people, who hated both her and 
James, said that the little boy was not 



198 THE ESCAPE. 

really her son, but that he was a little 
foundling boy who had been brought into 
the Queen's bed-chamber in a warming-pan 
in order to impose upon the people, and 
make them believe that he was really the 
King's son ; but I do not believe this story 
of the warming-pan, and I am sure the little 
boy was really the son of the King and 
Queen. 

But, poor little fellow ! he had better 
have been the son of any other father and 
mother, for his whole life was one course 
of unhappiness. 

He was but a few months old when the 
fury of the people obliged the King to con- 
trive the escape of him and his mother, — 
but the King was so surrounded with spies, 



THE ESCAPE. 199 

that he did not know whom to trust, for he 
thought all the English were his enemies, 
so he was obliged to consult a French 
gentleman who happened to be in London, 
and who was a man of great courage and 
rank, and who promised to assist in carry- 
ing off the Queen and the little Prince 
to France, out of the reach of their 
enemies. 

So a plan was arranged accordingly ; 
but great care was taken to keep it all 
a profound secret, lest some of the other 
party should find it out and stop the Queen 
and Prince. 

The way it was arranged was this : the 
night appointed for the Escape, the little 
Prince was put to bed as usual, and soon 



200 THE ESCAPE. 

after the King and Queen sent away their 

attendants, and went to bed also. 

When everybody was fast asleep in the 
house, the King and Queen got up and 
dressed themselves, and the King went and 
opened the door, where he found the French 
gentleman waiting; then the Queen took 
up the little Prince, and wrapping him up 
in flannel to keep him warm, for it was a 
cold winter s night, she also came to the 
door; then the King kissed them both, 
and wept bitterly at parting from them, 
and gave them both into the care of the 
French gentleman, who taking the little 
boy in one arm, and helping the Queen 
with the other, set out upon this melan- 
choly journey. 



THE ESCAPE. 201 

The night was a very stormy night, 
and the wind blew and the rain fell with 
great violence ; and when they came to 
the river side, where the French gentleman 
had ordered a boat to wait that they might 
escape down the river, it was so dark and 
stormy that he could not find the boat. 

He now hardly knew what to do, but 
he gave the Queen the little boy to hold, 
and he placed her under shelter of an old 
wall, and he desired her to remain there 
while he should go and look for the boat ; 
there then was this poor Queen and her 
baby, shivering in the cold and rain, and 
terrified at every noise she heard, more 
miserable than the poorest and meanest 
woman in England that night. 



202 THE ESCAPE. 

After she had stood for a long while 
under the wall, the French gentleman 
returned, and told her he had found the 
boat ; so he took the Prince, and led the 
Queen, trembling and weeping, and almost 
fainting, along, till they came to the water- 
side, where he placed them in the boat, 
and wrapping the boatman's cloak round 
them, and making them as comfortable as 
he could, he sat down by them, and 
directed the boatman to row away. 

The boatman did not know what great 
persons he had in his boat, and so he 
rowed away; had he known it, he might 
have delivered them up to their enemies ; 
but he thought perhaps that they were 
common people who had some reason of 



THE ESCAPE. 203 

their own for going at that time of 
night. 

So he rowed away, and by morning he 
had gotten a great way down the river, far 
from the palace and from London, and 
there they found a small ship about to sail 
for France ; so the French Gentleman 
went on board this ship, and pretending 
the Queen and Prince were his own wife 
and son, he bargained with the master of 
the ship to convey them to France ; which 
the master, suspecting nothing, agreed to 
do for a sum of money. 

Accordingly, they all got on board the 
ship, and set sail for France ; but they 
had not gone far when they saw the whole 
English fleet, watching at the mouth of 



204 THE ESCAPE. 

the River Thames, to examine all vessels, 
and prevent their escape : then indeed 
they began to be greatly afraid ; but the 
vessel they were in was so small and looked 
so poor, that the admirals and captains of 
the fleet never suspected her of containing 
such treasure, so they let her pass without 
examination ; and that very night the 
French gentleman had the happiness and 
glory of landing the Queen and her little son 
in safety in France, at that very town of 
Calais which I told you of once before. 

In the meanwhile, the King was in 
great anxiety and terror about his poor 
wife and child, and you may judge how 
happy he was, after a few days, to hear 
that they were safely landed in France. 



THE ESCAPE. 



205 



I dare say you are very anxious to 
know the name of this brave and faithful 
French gentleman — he was called the 
Duke of Lauzun; and when you are 
older and can read history, you may read 
some more of the story of the Duke of 
Lauzun, which you will find very curi- 
ous and entertaining. 



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